“I don’t understand,” complained Christopher. “I keep telling them what they are doing wrong and they just keep doing it.”

“Christopher, would you describe that feedback as positive feedback or negative feedback?” I queried.

“Well, it’s hardly positive, so it must be negative,” he replied.

“So, if they won’t listen to negative feedback from you, who, in their life, will they accept it from?”

Chris thought for a minute. “I don’t know, their mother?”

“Unfortunately, they won’t even listen to their mother. There is only one person who can get through to them, only one person who can voice negative feedback that they will listen to.” I stopped to see that I finally had Chris’ undivided attention. “The only voice they will listen to is their own voice.”

“What do you mean? How can I get them to say negative things about themselves?”

“It’s a very simple question. To get a better result, what could you do differently? Then wait. The next words out of their mouth will state the negative feedback they need to hear from the only person they will listen to.” -TF