Has someone telling you what you should do ever really worked well for you? When we are working with someone, it is important to model what you expect rather than telling the person what they should do. Modeling what you expect has a different feeling and creates a different environment. For example, if you want to teach someone to wash their hands (i.e., before meals), you can offer to wash hands together or show the person you are doing it first; instead of requesting the person to wash their hands when you don’t wash your hands before dinnertime. Placing demands on people typically does not work well and is considered a negative experience by most. Being demanding can be perceived as irritating or nagging. For example, if it is time for a person to do their weekly laundry you might approach them and offer to help them rather than telling them. You may want to start gathering the laundry to get it ready to wash. When working to support other people we can think of the saying “walk the walk” vs “talk the talk.”
