Assignment 3: Choose Your Battles Carefully

You cant live with your in laws and win each battle yourself or you will end up living with bitter and resentful people, who find you rigid and uncompassionate.


John Gottman has an excellent exercise in his book "The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work":

Draw a circle on a paper, and then draw a bigger one around it. In the inner circle, make a list of all your big battles - things you cant compromise on. In the outer circle, make a list of all your small battles - inconsequential issues which don't affect you that much.

Wherever you can, let them win the small battles. In doing that, you are investing success into the big battles.