Do you ever feel like you have to over justify yourself or defend yourself against petty gripes and accusations? Some people can be naturally over critical. This creates an atmosphere of constant defensiveness which can destroy relationships, not to mention your self confidence if you have someone close or work with someone who is like this. Get yourself out of the corner you feel backed into and avoid getting drawn into the negativity with our top tips:

It’s a frustrating situation. You’re sharing advice or giving instructions and the other person just isn’t listening. Why does this happen? How can you engage others, so they really want to listen? Here are the top tips from our panel:

We all know people who wind us up, make us feel small, angry or useless, even over small things. The impact can be a minor niggle, ruin our day or ruin a relationship! It might feel like these reactions are out of your control but the good news is there are ways to minimise the impact and deal with differently. Here are our top tips:

Tis the season to be merry - and also stressed if you are organising Christmas this year. At such a special time, you want to get it right, but many people race up to the big day and are then too exhausted or stress to enjoy it. There’s a reason why Christmas Eve is a peak day for people getting colds. Here are our top tips for making Christmas a breeze:

Have you ever wondered how to end ‘blame game’ behaviour at work? Here are the top tips from the experts:

Eleanor Shakiba; author of Difficult People Made Easy

Do you find it hard to say no? The problem many people have with saying no is that they don’t want to offend or upset people, or they are afraid it will damage the relationship in some way. Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) explores how to use language in a way that sets clear boundaries and respects other people. Here are some top tips for saying no and staying friends:

The words we use matter. When we speak or hear a word we make pictures and sounds in our minds, and that impacts how we feel and behave. So it’s important to be clear about what we are saying, to ourselves and others. In this series, John will explore the meaning and impact of common words we use and ask the question ‘Do we know what we’re saying?’