6 Sneaky Ways People Are Disrespecting You & What to Do About It

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Hey, it's your buddy Mel, and before we jump into this episode of the Mel Robbins podcast, my team just shared something with me and it blew my mind and I need to talk to you about it. See, apparently only 45% of the people that watch the Mel Robbins podcast, you're on YouTube are subscribers. That means 55% of you are not. My goal is simple. Can we get this to half of you that are watching our subscribers? Because if you enjoy the show, the content you love, the guests that I keep having on, if you want to be part of the Mel Robbins podcast family, which I do, it would be absolutely amazing if you would hit subscribe That way. You know exactly when we drop an episode, you get immediate access to it and all it takes to subscribe. One second. It's the best way for you to support me to support the show.

 

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Hit the subscribe button. And if you didn't know this, I didn't know this. If you're not subscribed, the button illuminates. I mean that's pretty cool. So if that button is lit up right now, please hit it. We're also rolling out brand new formats because I want to make sure I'm showing up for you with the inspiration, the empowerment, and the content that you need and deserve. Alrighty, I love being together here with you on YouTube. Now let's get back to the Mel Robbins podcast. Hey, it's your friend Mel, and welcome to the Mel Robbins Podcast. First of all, I am so excited you're here. I am fired up about what we're going to talk about today. It's always such an honor to spend time with you and to be together. And if you're a new listener, I want to take a moment and personally welcome you to the Mel Robbins podcast family.

 

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So glad you're here and because you made the time to hit play and listen to this particular episode, I know you're the kind of person who values your time and your time and energy is the single most important resource that you have. I mean, what you pour your energy into, how you spend your time, it determines what your life feels like. And today, you and I are going to talk about six subtle ways that people are draining your energy, wasting your time. These are six subtle ways that you're being disrespected and these six things that we're going to talk about as you hear them and as I unpack them, you're going to realize, wow, these are things that I experience almost every single day. And you may not realize that they're actually forms of disrespect. Or maybe if you realize it's happening and it's kind of annoying or it bothers you, you just don't know how to handle it because there's this real balance when you're being disrespected between how you respond versus whether or not it's even worth your energy.

 

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You and I are going to unpack that. In fact, what we're going to do today is we're going to tee up each one of these six subtle forms of disrespect. We're going to do it one by one and then we're going to unpack 'em and I'm going to explain why these six things drain energy and steal your time. And then we're going to look at the options that you have in any situation, whether you're at work, whether you're at home, wherever it is that these forms of disrespect are showing up after our conversation today, you're not only going to be able to see it coming, you're going to know exactly what to do or what not to do when it happens. And one other thing I wanted to say before we jump in is that if somebody in your life shared this episode with you and that's why you hit play and you're listening to it, that's amazing because they listened to it, they loved it, and they shared it with you because they care about you.

 

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And knowing that you have people that care about you in your life, that's a really cool thing. And you happen to have somebody who also wants you to be treated with more respect and you deserve that. Now, one of the reasons why I wanted to talk about this is because I feel like with the level of stress that people experience in life today and the headlines and the pressure, everybody feels that there is this massive kind of uptick in disrespectful or immature or just downright rude behavior. And you may be seeing it too, that people are just super impatient, they're kind of rude to each other. In fact, something happened to me the other day, and I'm sure you're going to be able to relate to this story where I experienced extremely disrespectful behavior and when someone is really disrespectful, I'm talking rude or just kind of immature or they sound off it's obvious and we all kind of are noted.

 

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In fact, something like that happened to me the other day, and when I tell you the story, I'm sure you're going to go, oh, I've had something like that happen recently. So I was on a plane and I was sitting in my seat and my seat mate kind of came in and she sat down and she had a small dog with her and she had the dog in one of those traveling cases that people take their dogs on, and she was trying to put the case underneath the seat and it wasn't fitting. And I don't travel with a dog, so I don't know the deal with dog carrier cases, but the thing had mesh on the side and it seemed kind of squishy and the dog was really, really, really cute and really tiny. And so she's trying to put it under the seat and the stewards that are working on the plane, they came by and they were saying, that seems a little big.

 

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I think that's going to be too big to put under the seat. And the woman starts to get very flustered and she's kind of shaking her shoulders and now it's going to fit, it's going to fit. And the person working on the plane said, well, let me see if I can help you. And they kind of bend down and the one's like, I got it. And you can tell that her tone is now getting agitated. Now keep in mind the person's trying to help. The plane is getting ready to close the doors. She's kind of ruffling around in her seat and the person says, well, if we just turn it on its side, I bet you could slide it in a little bit more. You can't have it sticking out right there in front of you. And the woman's like huffing and puffing. And so the steward's like, well, here, let me help you.

 

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And the woman's, no, I got it. And kind of pushes the carrier in and the little dog kind of bends down a little bit and it fits. And that was that. So as the steward stands up, because they've helped get the dog carrier underneath the seat and the woman's got this huge coat on her lap and the person says, Hey, would it help if I hang up your coat? The woman turns to him and says, absolutely not. It was so hostile, this was aimed at a human being who was trying to help her. I don't know about you, but when I experience a person like that, I am so interested in protecting my piece that unless they're hurting somebody or discriminating against them or just really creating a ruckus, I'm like, okay, let's put up a force field. I'm going to protect my energy from this person because I'm now seeing data.

 

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This person is very emotionally immature. She's very disrespectful. She gets overwhelmed by her emotions. She definitely feels entitled and above any of the rules here. And when she gets overwhelmed, she lashes out at other people. And I'm going to stop the story right there because who knows what was going on in her world? Who knows if she's got a lot going on? I tend to just assume good intent, but I don't think because you are stressed out, that gives you the right to be disrespectful to other people, particularly other people are just trying to do their jobs and just trying to help you. But I kind of take that as data, very disrespectful, overwhelmed by emotions. I'm going to stay clear and I'm going to protect my energy because that's one of the first things that you and I are going to talk about is that when you're dealing with disrespect, you get to decide if this is worth your energy or not.

 

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You get to decide if you're going to be the world's manners police or you're going to be the person that enforces the rules. You get to decide whether or not you call people out. And so in this situation, I'm strapped in my seat. I have to sit next to this person for two hours, and so I make a decision. Well, I'm just going to let her be disrespectful. I'm going to let me choose not to say anything to her. And then I'm also going to let me over index and be super kind to the steward that's working on this plane, right? Because I feel bad for this person. I mean, they're just doing their job and they've got this entitled jerk sitting there on the plane acting as if their problems are somehow everybody else's fault. As I tell you this story, you can probably recall an instant recently where somebody was just going crazy at a customer service rep or maybe somebody was rude to a waiter or maybe your family gets really agitated when the news is on and they start yelling at the TV or talking to each other and this really tone of voice and you kind of feel it in your skin, can't you?

 

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When somebody gets that sort of just really disrespectful and emotionally immature energy around them, and I'm a really generally nice person, but this is the kind of thing I can't tolerate. I can't tolerate it when people are rude and mean to other people because we're all just trying our best. In fact, as we were talking about this, I have a friend who works on the team who was saying, I totally get it. And her dad is in a nursing home. Her dad just had a stroke, needs around the clock care. And he is very demanding. And if you have somebody in your life, whether it's a grandparent or a parent who's getting older and they're starting to do that sun setting thing and they are throwing the temper tantrums and they get really nasty and kind of angry with people around them, it's like embarrassing because you've got a grown ass adult throwing temper tantrums and saying things that are disrespectful.

 

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And if you are the family member, it's like you're standing by and you're like, oh my God, I cannot believe this person is acting like this. And the tendency in these situations, especially when it's family, is to just be like, oh, I'm really, really sorry. I'm really, really sorry. And what I loved about my friend's approach is she just pulled the nurse aside and was like, he's a tough old bastard. I guess you and I are in this together. I really appreciate you taking care of him and being calm. It means a lot. And so I'm telling you these two stories because I'm sure you've experienced this kind of dynamic where nobody is going to debate you. Is that disrespectful? Is it not disrespectful? Are they out of line? Are they not out of line? We all agree the behavior's out of line, and maybe you're experiencing this kind of thing at work, you got a boss that's a yeller and it's constantly barfing their stress out on everyone else, not cool.

 

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You got a family member that is so volatile with their emotions and then is passive aggressive or has a silent treatment or their mood sends the entire family dynamic into a tailspin. We all know it's disrespectful. We all know that they're acting immature. And I also want to validate something. There is a massive uptick in this kind of disrespectful behavior if you're really noticing that people seem on edge, I want to tell you you're right. And one of the reasons why people seem on edge right now and why they're being more disrespectful and they're not being as polite and they're impatient and they're snapping is because people are operating at levels of chronic stress, which means they're in a constant state of fight or flight. Now, I'm not saying that to justify any kind of disrespect. I'm saying it because if you are feeling like, my God, everybody's on edge and everybody's super emotional and people are giving people the silent treatment and what is up with this, you're not the only one that's feeling this.

 

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And so in these big moments, one of the things I want to remind you is your peace is worth protecting. And I have found more and more and more that when I find somebody out in public or I find a family member who is acting with overt disrespect, I'm just like, let them, and here's one thing I want to clear up. When you say let them, you're not just letting somebody be disrespectful. That's not what this is. They're already disrespectful. They've already yelled, they're already in their mood. When you say let them, you're not allowing anything. You're calling it out. You're calling it out to yourself and you're drawing a boundary and you're saying, let them be disrespectful. Let them be immature. Let them use that tone of voice because I recognize that this is not worth my energy and I'm not going to try to control it.

 

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Let me remind myself that I'm not the parent to another adult. Let me remind myself I can leave this store. I can leave this dining room table. I can leave this conversation. Let me remind myself that I don't have to be the parent to this woman sitting next to me on the airplane. I can just sit quietly here and be kind and project positive energy, and that's how I protect myself. I'm not allowing anything. I'm actually protecting myself from it. And so don't mistake saying let them with you. Allowing something to happen. Let them is recognizing who a person is and spotting emotional immaturity for what it is something that other people engage in, but it is not your responsibility to change in someone else. You can choose to. But I'm finding over and over and over again these days, I'm choosing not to because I want to stay in my peace.

 

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But that brings me to what I wanted to talk to about today because in these big moments where somebody explodes or they're just downright rude, it's really obvious, but there are six very subtle ways that disrespect you right now. And these are things that sort of slide under the radar. They're the kinds of things that don't feel good, but you're not quite sure how to respond or if it's worth the response. And I'm going to tell you something. You and I are going to unpack these six subtle ways that people are disrespecting you because I want you to understand that seeing it and choosing what you do in response to it is how you start to respect yourself and how you start to respect your time and your energy. And what we're going to do is I'm going to tee these up one by one, and then you and I are going to unpack 'em and we're going to talk about the tools that you need. And those tools, they range from specific things that you can say to just recognizing what's happening and choosing to protect your piece. So let's take 'em one by one.

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It can be a problem in your friend group. And I want you to recognize it for what it is. It means that the person doesn't care to hear what you have to say, and that's a form of disrespect. And there's some really interesting research around this because when it happens, you're kind of like, did they not hear me talking? And you kind of feel a little shut down. Well, here's what we're going to do instead. So if somebody starts talking over you, whether you're sitting at a meeting at work, the advice is going to be exactly the same. This comes from research from Harvard Business Review, really interesting article that was written by Harrison Monarch. And what you're going to do if somebody starts talking over you, you're in a meeting, you're talking, all of a sudden John starts talking over you. First things first, keep talking. Just keep talking. And a real power move is, and you can hear me doing it now, slow down.

 

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So as you're talking, slow down. And the second thing that you're going to do, and this comes from this article that Harrison Monarch, a New York Times bestselling author and coach who's quoted in this Harvard Business Review article says, use their name. So let me give you an example, Mike, I'm going to finish my point. This is an important topic and I just wanted to make sure that everyone's informed, and I'll be glad to get your feedback, Mike, after I've shared my perspective, but I'd like to make sure you actually hear my perspective first. Boom. Holy cow. You know what happens when you do that? Nobody knows what to say because you didn't stop talking. And if the person keeps talking, you over, mom, I'm going to finish my point. I'll be glad to hear your feedback, mom, after I've shared my perspective, but I'd actually like to make sure you hear my perspective first. And then mom, I'd love to hear yours. Whoa.

 

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I mean, that's pretty amazing, isn't it? You don't have to stop talking. You don't have to give in. You had the floor. Don't let your brothers and your sisters or some colleague talk over you. And then when you're done talking, here's the final thing you do, mom, I know you had some thoughts earlier. What would you like to share? Mom or Mike? I know you were trying to insert your ideas earlier. I would love to hear what you have to say. Now, Mike, talk about just a confident and calm and emotionally mature response because I'm going to say it again. If somebody is chronically talking over you, whether it's your family or your friends or someone at work, they have actually no interest in listening to what you have to say, that's disrespectful. And if somebody doesn't respect what you have to say, stop giving them power.

 

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You need to respect what you have to say enough to keep on talking. That's why you keep going. And using their name stops them, Mike, mom, dad, Hey everyone. I'd be happy to hear what you have to say when I'm done sharing what I'd like to say that commands the room. You know what I love about this strategy is that you're holding your power. See, respect starts with you. And when you use this strategy that you just keep talking. And if the person doesn't shut up as you are slowly talking, because what's going to happen when two people are talking, whether you're at a dinner table or you're out at a restaurant or you're sitting at a meeting at work is everybody else starts to get uncomfortable because they're not quite sure who to listen to. So they're going to start looking around and the person that interrupted you is going to start talking louder.

 

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But as you just quietly keep talking and you slow down, and then at some point you're going to start to feel a little that the other person is starting to talk louder, then you drop in the name Mike, mom and that gets their attention. And then you redirect. Be happy to hear your thoughts, but this is an important thing I wanted to share. And before you share your reaction, I'd actually like you to hear what I want to say. Now you're respecting yourself, and that's the cue to everybody else to respect what you have to say. And then you do the superpower. Move by going, okay, so Mike, what did you want to say about that? Or, okay, so mom, what was your opinion about what we should all do for dad's birthday? And now you're not just respecting what you have to say, but you're also acting with a level of maturity and you're inviting people to say what they need to say.

 

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I just absolutely love this and you can practice this, and the more you practice this, the better you're going to get. But just keep talking, then say their name. And then when you're done talking, boom, you just ask them what they wanted to say, and that's the way you show your self-respect and you shut down any disrespect. 

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Because if they're going to question you and be like, you don't need to get that upset and they're going to question your response, then they clearly don't care how you feel. They don't care how their behavior impacts you. And so here are some things that you can do because the truth is your feelings do matter. And while somebody may be doing something and they didn't intend to hurt your feelings, it's not about what they intended. If somebody truly cares about you, they're going to care about the impact that their behavior had on you. Do you see the difference? For me, this is an area where I feel like as a parent in particular, I've been like the Bigfoot stepping on people's feelings. I didn't intend to hurt anybody's feelings. I didn't intend to invalidate people's feelings. But in my desire to want somebody to feel better, I'm like, oh, it's not going to be that bad.

 

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You're going to be okay. I'm actually dismissing how somebody feels. And so this is an area where I've done a lot of work where I'm trying not to be disrespectful of how people feel or how my behavior might've impacted them, or how my desire for somebody to want to feel better actually dismisses their feelings. I'm not giving them the space to feel how they feel. And so again, the reason why this is disrespectful is because if someone questions how you feel, if somebody dismisses how you feel, if somebody is trying to fast forward you through your feelings, it means they don't really care how you feel. And that's so important because you need to care about how you feel. And there's some really important research for why this matters because I think it's easy to tell yourself you're too sensitive. It's easy for you to turn this back on yourself and blame yourself for the kind of reactions you have.

 

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Like we're also scared about getting emotional. I think a large reason why is many of us had a childhood where you were constantly invalidated and your feelings were dismissed, don't cry. It's not that big of a deal. I never said that. All that kind of stuff that teaches you, it's just not safe for you to have feelings. And so if this is happening to you in your relationship at work, in your friendships as an adult, you have to start to care how you feel. Because when people question it or they brush it aside, it's a sign that they don't really care and they don't have the capacity to give you the space to feel what you feel. But you got to give yourself the space. It starts with you. And so I love some of the research here because it lifts up this topic in terms of its level of importance.

 

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And this one's so subtle that I just want to call out some of the phrases that are a sign that somebody is dismissing your feelings and they're disrespecting you. So if you've ever had somebody say to you, you're so sensitive or you're overreacting, I mean this is not a big deal. Why is this such a big deal? Or why does this have to cause such a problem? Why is everything with you an issue? Or you think this is bad? People have bigger problems than this. I don't know why you're upset about this. When somebody says that to you, it means they actually don't care how you feel. You're an inconvenience and your feelings are now a bother to them, and they don't want to have to deal with it. And so this is a big deal. And let me tell you why. There was a study done by Gregory Wakowski at Walden University.

 

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This is what's called emotional invalidation. And the research is very clear on this. When your emotions are brushed aside, you're overreacting. This isn't a big deal. It doesn't just sting in the moment. It can have lasting effects constantly facing this kind of emotional invalidation. Here's what it does. It leads to increased stress, anxiety, even depression, and it also chips away at your confidence and your ability to handle life's ups and downs, and it can make challenges feel even more overwhelming. Why? Well, I'll tell you why. Because if you've got somebody in your life that's constantly, why is this such a big deal? You're overreacting. Why are you so sensitive about everything? I never meant it that way. Why do you have to get so upset about everything? When that constantly happens to you? You then start to question whether or not your feelings are valid.

 

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So first you have somebody invalidating you because they don't want to deal with your emotions. And now you start to wonder, am I the problem? Am I too sensitive? Maybe I shouldn't say anything. So you start to shut down your emotions. And what I want you to do is the exact opposite. I want you to validate your emotions. So the next time that somebody does this to you, you're feeling something, you're upset about something, something's bothering you, you're working through something, and somebody has the disrespectful approach of going, why is this such a big deal? Why are you so sensitive? You are going to validate your own emotions. I'm going to give you two sentences that I love. These come from my buddy Jefferson Fisher. He's a bestselling author. He is an expert at handling difficult people. He's also a trial lawyer. Here's what he recommends you do.

 

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When somebody dismisses your feelings and disrespects you validate your feelings by saying this. I get to decide. I feel how I feel and the way that I like to say, let me decide how I feel. So the next time somebody says, you're too sensitive, I feel how I feel. Why are you overreacting? Let me decide how I'm going to react to this. Isn't that powerful? Instead of waiting for somebody else to give your emotions space and validate them, let me validate them for myself. Let me decide how I feel. It's so empowering and I'm going to say something as a parent, this is something that I'm working on because I find it very difficult when one of my kids is struggling with something and they're upset about something. I just want to do everything in my power to make it go away. And I can see, especially as I've been thinking about this conversation we're going to have today, that there's probably a lot of times where my kids have gotten worked up about something and now I know they decide how they feel.

 

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They get to feel how they feel. And my job is not to call them sensitive or not to tell them it's going to be okay or not to try to rush them through anything and invalidate where they're at. Let me just give them space to feel how they feel instead of labeling it, which is a form of disrespect. I can see this is very difficult for you. What can I do to support you? I can see that you're upset by this. How can I help? I can see that what said really hurt your feelings. I apologize. I did not mean to hurt your feelings, but I can see how my words impacted you, and I am sorry, I'll do better. What I love about this is that whether you're the one that tends to step on people's feelings because you don't like it when people are emotional and it gets you upset when people are emotional and when people are anxious, you get anxious.

 

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Understood. That's a normal thing to feel. And using these tools, we can recognize when we're the ones, oh, you're being too sensitive. I never said that. Stop you yourself from saying it. Let them feel how they feel and let me be more respectful and acknowledge their feelings. Give them the space to feel it and then ask how I can be supportive. That's how you can use this tool to not be disrespectful. And it's also how you can use this tool when it's happening to you to validate your own emotions and say, I get to feel how I feel. Now, we've already talked about how people talk over you and what to do about it, how they dismiss your feelings.

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Because here's the truth, someone who's never on time doesn't value your time and see if they don't value your time, then whose job is it to value your time? It's yours. You can't expect other people to respect your time if you don't protect your time and you don't value it yourself. And here's the thing that I want you to understand. As somebody who used to chronically be late, I never thought about this from the standpoint of how my lateness is a sign that I don't value someone else's time. I was always constantly making myself wrong for being late that I clearly don't value my own time because I'm not respecting it. And a lot of people who run late are so caught up in their own dysfunction that they don't even think about the impact that their lateness has on other people. I mean, you've experienced it, right?

 

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Somebody breezes in 10, 15 minutes late, it's like a kind of windstorm entering the room or pigpen from the peanuts cartoon with just like a dust storm around them. And then there's always this three minute explanation about traffic or this or that or the other thing. And now they're disrespecting your time even more because they're taking up more time to explain exactly why they're late. And when you take a minute and you really think about this, but you have a meeting or you said you would meet a certain place and you're now waiting there and you've shown up on time, you've valued your time, you've valued the other person's time, and the fact that the person isn't there is disrespectful. And so there's two ways that I want to unpack this because you may be listening and thinking, oh my gosh, I'm the one that's late and I'm always texting on my way and you haven't left the house yet.

 

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Or I'll be there in five minutes and it's actually going to be 17, so let's talk about it. If you are that person, I used to be that person chronically. If you're waking up and going, oh gosh, I've never thought about this as a way where I'm disrespecting other people. I've always just thought about this as me just being a mess and not being punctual and always running late. When you really start to invert this about not wasting other people's time and not being disrespectful, it does change the motivation for why it matters to be on time. Because if you're not going to do it for you, thinking about the fact that you're being disrespectful to other people might just motivate you to change because of what your behavior is communicating to them. And one move that has really helped me a lot, not only thinking about how you're disrespecting other people's time, and it's a disrespectful thing to do to constantly run late and to constantly think that you're more important than everybody else, and to constantly think that people are going to wait for you is instead of rolling in late and being like, sorry, sorry, sorry.

 

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And then having some explanation that somehow justifies that you had something more important to do than to be there on time, which is kind of what you're doing, right? You're blaming circumstances for why you couldn't be there, which means you're almost more important. And so are those circumstances than the people's time who have been waiting for you. One thing that's changed my life has been to learn to say thank you. When you are late and you walk in, the only thing to say to people is Thank you for your patience. And then sit down and let the meeting go. That's it. No explanation because the explanation is somehow told to absolve you, you're late. That's what happened. Thank you for your patience, acknowledges that you were late, and by thanking them, you put the value on the other people. By thanking them, you actually elevate everybody else above you by thanking them, you are valuing the grace that people just extended to you.

 

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You're not making an excuse for the fact that you held everybody up. You are acknowledging the power in other people and it shifts something in you because you're also acknowledging that you are late. And so it will change you when you do that. Now, if you are the one who's constantly being disrespected, then the only thing that there is to do, in my opinion, that makes a difference because what do we know? You can't change another person. All you can do is take responsibility for what you need to communicate. So as much as it pains me to tell you this, you're going to let them be late. You're going to let them run late. You're going to let them do what they're going to do because you can't change them. But then you got to go to the let me part of the let them theory.

 

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And you got to look at what you can control. And what you can control is you can control what you do or don't do in response. You can control what you think about this and what you say about this. And I remember a couple of years ago, my husband sat me down and basically said, it's completely unacceptable how you chronically run late because it tells me that you don't respect my time. It tells me that I'm not a priority, and here is my request. If you are running late and you can see that your day is stacking up, tell me as soon as you know that you're not going to be on time, because then I can decide if I want to continue to go to this thing. Because again, a lot of people that run late have a story about always being late. And it's not until somebody actually has the conversation, which is You're disrespecting me.

 

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Do you know how disrespectful it is for you to constantly be 15 minutes late? If you can't show up at the reservation until seven 15, let's not make the reservation for seven o'clock. Start to act like an adult and respect my time. And if you know that you're telling me a time and you're actually managing being there a half an hour late, then let's be honest about what time you're actually going to be there. And what was interesting about that is that as somebody that was chronically running late being called out for disrespecting, my husband actually motivated me to want to change it. Being called out about this sort of what he called Mel time, which is my propensity to think that I can actually take a shower, blow dry my hair, get dressed and be out the door for something we need to go to in about three minutes being called out, that that is a form of disrespect because I'm gaslighting myself and I'm also now holding him a hostage while I'm not planning accordingly, it made me get honest with myself about how much time I actually need, and it's a lot more than I was planning for.

 

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And here's one more move. Don't wait. If they miss the ferry, they miss the ferry. Go on without 'em. If they miss the movie, they miss the movie. Go on without 'em. If the play starts and they can't get in until intermission, go in without 'em, just because they're late doesn't have to make you late. And so this is why it's important that you call this out with the people that are chronically late because nobody that's chronically late actually is even thinking about how they're disrespecting you. They're so caught up in their own inability to do this that they don't have a higher level of motivation to actually fix it. And so my request of you is not only do I want you to be on time, I want you to be five minutes early because it's a form of respect and I value my time and I value your time, and that's why I'm taking the time to tell you the truth about this.

(00:40:29):

But there's a much more subtle and destructive form of the silent treatment that is destroying your relationships. It's like a death by a thousand cuts, and the more subtle way that people use the silent treatment is by being silent about what you want or need. I mean, how many times have you had someone who's annoyed with you or mad with you and you have no idea why they're mad with you? They just have this weird energy. You left the house earlier, you're going to go play golf or go shopping with your girlfriends, and then you come back and it's weird. You can tell they're pissed. Their body language has changed. They're not looking at you in the eye, they're kind of doing the dishes or doing the thing in the huff puff way. Well, the reason why there's weird energy is because they've been silent about what they actually need or want from you. And so you went about your day-to-day life. You went off and played golf, you went and did the errands or met your girlfriends for lunch, and then you come home and they're punishing you because you couldn't read their mind. This is a real thing.

 

(00:41:43):

This is chronic in relationships that it's Sunday morning. I was just talking to a girlfriend of mine that she was saying that recognizing that she's doing this in a relationship, it was Sunday morning. All she wanted to do was just plop on the couch and cuddle up and watch movies all day with her boyfriend. Her boyfriend's like, Hey, do you mind if I go play golf with the guys? And here's the truth, she did mind. She was like in her stomach when he said this. She's like, yeah, I do mind. I want to sit on the couch. Did she say anything? No. She's like, okay, okay. How many times have you done that? Somebody says they're going to go do something. Is it okay? You're like, it's okay. And inside you're silent about the truth. But then when they leave, you sit there and seethe and then when they come home, you're furious.

 

(00:42:39):

It should have been nine holes, not 18. They didn't tell me that they should have known. This is not just something that happens in romantic relationships. Danielle Bayer Jackson, she's this friendship expert, bestselling author. She said that the research shows that we project what our needs are on the people that we think we're close to because we think our friends and family should know, well, you should know that I wanted you to be here. You should know that I wanted you to do that. And here's what I'm going to tell you. You have no right to be mad at somebody when you didn't even tell them what you wanted. You have no right to be mad at somebody when you kept your mouth quiet. You have no right to be mad at somebody when you stayed silent. People are not mind readers. If you didn't say it, they don't know it.

 

(00:43:33):

And this is so important because you're doing this. You're doing this at work by not speaking up about the assignments that you want. You're doing this at work about not asking for what you need. You're doing this with your family. Well, they should just know that I wanted to host Thanksgiving. Well, they should just know that I don't like that. They should just know that I want flowers. And then you punish people because they don't know. This is so disrespectful. It is toxic, it's abusive to people. I'm dead serious about this. I wrote about this in the Let Them Theory book. I want to read to you from page one 15. The silent treatment is what an immature adult does when they don't know how to process their emotions or ask for what they need in a healthy and respectful manner. So instead, they stop talking.

 

(00:44:30):

They pretend nothing's wrong, and often they ignore you. And if you've ever been on the receiving end of the silent treatment from a friend, a family member, a coworker, it's painful. And you immediately, your immediate instinct is to try to figure out, okay, what did you do wrong? Have you ever walked into your parents' house and one of your parents is in a horrible mood? You have no idea what's wrong, but you know something's wrong. And now all of a sudden you're walking on eggshells and you're trying to delicately figure it out because you don't want to step on an emotional landmine. And then you come to find out that somebody's feelings were hurt because you stayed out longer than they thought that you were going to. And they had expectations that you were going to go do something this afternoon, but they never told you.

 

(00:45:14):

And somehow their silence is your fault. I'm sorry. Their silence is disrespect. That's what it is. It's immaturity. Lemme keep reading from page one 15. And that's exactly what the person giving you the silent treatment wants. They want your attention, just like a child pouting off in the corner, wants the parent to come over and soothe them. An adult that gives you the silent treatment wants you to ask, are you okay? Can I do something? What did I do wrong? I'll tell you what you did wrong. You went playing golf and I didn't tell you that I didn't want you to go play golf, so now I'm going to punish you even though I was silent. This is how we adults operate with each other. Don't you think that's kind of disrespectful? Isn't it disrespectful if you're doing something wrong at work and nobody tells you they're silent about it and then they're mad at you because you're not doing something that they never told you that you needed to do or you're not changing the way that you're doing it and you were doing it wrong and you didn't know?

 

(00:46:15):

Why is that your problem? This is crazy town, crazy town. And so here's the thing that I want you to understand. You get to choose when somebody does this to you. This is a sign that somebody has a lot of work to do. They either don't know how to ask for what they need. This is not your fault, or they don't know how to handle emotions, and so they stay silent instead of asking for something or talking about something because they're worried about how you're going to respond. And this is where the let them theory really helps you because if they don't respect you enough to ask for what they need, then don't let them disrespect you with the silent treatment. That's not your fault, and you got to wake up and see it for what it is. And so here's how you can choose to respond to this.

 

(00:47:16):

Let them go silent, let them erupt. Let them play the victim, let them sulk, let them make it all about them, and then focus on the response, the let me part. Let me be the mature, wise and loving adult in this situation. Let me decide if I want to address this directly or not at all. Let me remind myself that managing another person's emotions not my job. Let me remove myself from any text chain, dinner table, conversation, relationship or friend group where this is happening instead of expecting other people to change. Demand the change of yourself if somebody's so disrespectful that they will stay silent on what they need from you and then punish you for not being a mind reader. You got to wake up and realize what you're dealing with here and hold yourself to a higher standard. Respect yourself enough to not stay silent when this happens.

 

(00:48:16):

The more time you pour into a relationship with somebody who acts like an 8-year-old, the more you're going to feel like a parent to a child. You got to recognize that you're dealing with somebody who has a lot of internal work to do, and you're either going to have to draw healthier boundaries and ignore them and let them do this crap or draw healthier boundaries around the amount of time and energy you're willing to give to them. In fact, saying, let them and let me. These are tools that you can use to draw boundaries between yourself and other people and to recognize when you're starting to get emotionally triggered and then to say, let me say what I need to say. I don't want you to go play golf today. I'd love to sit on the couch. Could you do that? And now you can have a conversation instead of saying silent.

 

(00:49:01):

And that's what respect looks like. Or I really love it if you would buy me flowers, because when you buy me flowers, it makes me feel like you're thinking of me. Because I know when you're at the grocery store, you're like, oh, she said buy flowers. And so you buy the tulips. And then I realize that, well, you're not here. You're thinking of me and having me in mind is a way that really makes me know that you love me. And that's a simple thing that you could do. See, now you're treating somebody with respect. Isn't it respectful to tell somebody what you need? Isn't it respectful to tell people how they can support you? Of course it is. And if somebody's not giving you that respect, you got to speak up. You got to tell them what you need. And what you need is for them to develop the skills of communicating, clearly, expressing what they need from you, asking for the support and managing their emotions like a mature adult.

(00:50:47):

It happens so fast. You're kind of like, wait a minute. And then you go, wait a minute. If they're saying, actually that is a good idea, they're also kind of saying, normally you don't have a good idea. Or when people say things like, well, I guess that's one way you could do it. They're questioning how you do it. Are you going to wear that? They're questioning what you're wearing. Even things like you can't take a joke. Other examples, you always do this. You never do that. Just relax. This is one of those things when it happens, once you just let it slide, but it can become a real problem if you're around somebody who's just constantly chipping away at your confidence or who's just really kind of patronizing and you can't quite put your finger on it until you put your finger right on it and you're like, oh, wait a minute.

 

(00:51:47):

This person actually thinks they're better than me. This is a person who's talking down to me. And when you realize that that's what's going on, I want you to recognize that this is a massive form of disrespect that is subtly chipping away at you. And what I want you to do is recognize that you do have choices here. I think the best thing to do in this situation is just call it out. And the reason why you call it out is because if somebody does believe that they're better than you and they talk down to you and they chip away at you, they're stepping on your head as a way to feel better about themselves. This is an ingrained part of their personality. And one of the reasons why people do this and they bully each other and they're condescending is because they get away with it. And so first step is actually calling it out for yourself. Oh, wait a minute, this person's actually really condescending. And you know that you never look up to someone who talks down to you. And so what you're going to do once you recognize it, is you want distance from this person. So when they say that thing, well, I guess that's one way to do it. You're going to pause.

 

(00:53:10):

You can silently say to yourself, let them, because what you're doing when you say let them is you're not letting them be condescending. You're letting them reveal who they actually are and how they feel about you. You're seeing it coming. And then you're going to slowly say, are you trying to be condescending? And just let that hang because I'm going to tell you something. Nobody has called them out on this. When you quietly say, are you trying to be condescending? They're going to be so startled. They're going to be like, well, I didn't mean it like that. And they're going to backtrack and try to explain themselves. And now guess who's up and guess who's down. You just took control of the response. You just called out exactly what it is, and you also are not interested in their explanation. Another thing that you can do, and this is a trick from our friend, Jefferson Fisher, trial lawyer, bestselling author, he is fantastic with his advice about these difficult situations is when somebody's condescending, you pause and then you can say, can you repeat that?

 

(00:54:31):

Because when you force somebody to repeat a statement where they have this real subtle disrespect into it, they don't want to repeat it because they know you're calling them out and they know what they just did. So again, never look up to someone who talks down to you and you are going to take a pause. You're going to see it for what it is, it's disrespect, and then you're going to call it out. Did you mean to be condescending? Did you mean to disrespect me? Could you repeat that? And trust me, they're not going to repeat it.