The Relationship Diet: How to Create Happy, Healthy, and Valuable Relationships (At Home, At Work, and Everywhere You Go)

No one ever teaches you how to relate...Think about it: when, in your formal education, has anyone ever explained what a “relationship” actually is? When, if ever, has anyone talked about the features of a successful, healthy, and mutually-beneficial relationship? And in what class has anyone ever provided insight about specific steps you could take to improve a struggling relationship or, more positively, to secure a strong relationship?If you are like most people, the answer to those questions is likely, “Never! And how strange that I’ve never thought about that, Jim!” I know, right?! Some nice people might say, “Well, my parents taught me...I think,” upon which we all have a chuckle knowing how most of our parents just figured out ways not to kill each other over the course of their relationship (because, spoiler alert, nobody taught them how to do relationships, either). Others think back to that awkward day in grade school when boys and girls were separated and had to watch videos with bad acting about what to do when you had “weird feelings down there.” That’s not what this book is about...well, not exactly, but I suppose if you become better at relating, that could happen.But relationships are not just romantic. In fact, the majority of the relationships we have in life are not of the romantic variety. From family to friends, colleagues to clients, we spend more time engaging with non-romantic partners than we do romantic ones in our day-to-day lives. Plus, our increasingly connected world has thrown some extra spice in the relationship recipe, particularly social/professional networking and online dating sites. The good news is this: a relationship is a relationship, and the variables that make a romantic relationship happy, healthy, and valuable are the same variables that make friendly, familial, and professional relationships stronger and more rewarding. Wouldn’t you like to know what those variables are?In The Relationship Diet, James Mourey, Ph.D., combines half-a-century worth of social psychology research with over a decade of corporate consulting experience to provide a novel relationship framework that will forever change the way you think about and engage in relationships with others. Whether you are a senior executive seeking a better corporate culture (for your company) or a single soul seeking somebody to love (for yourself), The Relationship Diet provides the specific tools and language necessary to build better relationships in every corner of your life.Dr. Mourey begins The Relationship Diet by discussing what a “relationship” is in the first place and why humans have evolved to value relating with others. From there, readers complete the RelatEdTM diagnostic, an assessment tool that provides unique, customized feedback regarding one’s relationship-building strengths (gains) and liabilities (losses). With diagnostic scores in hand, readers learn about the variables science tells us produce stronger relationships and develop an action plan to improve their relationships.So, if you are ready to become a better boss, a better worker, a better colleague, a better parent, a better friend, a better partner, a better person, and maybe...just maybe...a better lover, let’s get started on the relationship education we should have learned as children but never did. Lest you think you’re the only person who wishes relationships in your life could be better, rest assured that one thing is certain: we can all relate. Let’s do just that...