Michael Sorensen

And so if you first empathize with them and go, Oh gee, that's tough.

Right?

He really did that.

I can't even believe that.

Right?

And you let them respond.

That shows first a tremendous amount of respect for the other person because you're not saying I know how to fix this and you don't.

Right?

So first you validate,

Then I'm a big proponent of asking permission to give advice So that might look like saying, you know, I have a few thoughts on the topic Do you mind if I share you know, or maybe simply saying well, what would you like for me?

And then that gives the other person the power to ask for your opinion to ask for your advice And then when they do that, they're far more open to that advice and they're far more willing to actually implement whatever it is you're suggesting and

Sure.

Yeah.

And I'm happy you point that out because this certainly isn't a one size fits all.

You can never jump to advice.

I find where it's most beneficial is when it's more of an emotionally charged situation.

Positive or excuse me, negative or positive.

You know, when somebody is explaining or sharing something very exciting to us, they of course don't want us to just say, cool.

They want us to feel excited and energized and that's validating as well.

So validation really is just showing the other person that they're allowed to feel whatever they're feeling and that that makes sense to us.