How to Set Healthy Boundaries

<p>In my life, there is almost NO consistency. Which can be awesome for spontaneous journeys or trips and fun nights-in doing silly things with my daughter and husband. But it can also be an absolute pain in the butt when it comes to the simple things in my marriage like who is cooking dinner, or who is picking our kid up from school or even who is going to be home that weekend!</p><p> </p><p>To minimize the chaos (and keep us both semi-sane), my husband and I have LOTS of conversations about these things that most people would already know well in advance because their life is… well, consistent!</p><p> </p><p>This has been a learning journey for both of us and it’s gotten better as we’ve grown and found out more about ourselves and each other. This is especially true around us setting and honoring boundaries and being really clear about them.</p><p> </p><p>When our boundaries are clear, it’s a lot easier to manage the other stuff.</p><p> </p><p>This episode is really about how to set boundaries like a Buddha - saying no and making requests while standing in your power, being clear, compassionate, and full of love… and NOT trying to control people, which can be a really “sticky” part of this.</p><p> </p><p>One thing to understand when setting healthy boundaries is the concept of “The Manual.” This is all the expectations we have of how we want others to behave in order for us to avoid being uncomfortable.</p><p> </p><p>You may not know what’s in your manual until someone <strong>isn’t </strong>following it. Then suddenly you’re like “Oh, shit. You’re not who I thought you were.”</p><p> </p><p>Well, it would be more correct to say, “I had certain expectations and thoughts about you that are no longer valid.”</p><p> </p><p>Not sure what your manual looks like? You can start by asking yourself some of these questions whenever someone stops following yours:</p><p>    • How did you expect that person to behave and why?</p><p>    • How would you feel if they behaved in that way?</p><p>    • Do we want them to behave li