Why can it sometimes feel easier to connect with the outside world than with the person we love most?
Jay explores why love can feel stressful instead of safe, even when both people care deeply. Drawing from his Audible Original Messy Love: Difficult Conversations for Deeper Connection, he breaks down the everyday habits that quietly create distance: subtle disrespect, scorekeeping, unspoken resentment, mismatched conflict styles, and the fear of saying what we really feel. Through real sessions with three couples, he shows that what we often label as incompatibility is rarely about love itself, it’s about unresolved hurt, inherited fight patterns, and the deep need to feel respected, recognized, and taken seriously by the person we care about most.
Jay introduces five transformative principles that can help couples turn conflict into connection. From understanding how respect, not chemistry, is the true foundation of lasting love, to breaking the silent resentment of scorekeeping, he invites listeners to reflect on where imbalance, miscommunication, and unexpressed needs may be shaping their connection. He explains how our conflict styles, whether we vent, hide, or explode, are protective patterns learned over time, and why repair, not perfection, is the true marker of a healthy relationship.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
How to Build Love on Respect, Not Just Chemistry
How to Stop Scorekeeping Before It Turns Into Resentment
How to Express Needs Without Blame
How to Identify and Improve Your Conflict Style
How to Repair After an Argument Instead of Withdrawing
How to Communicate Feelings Instead of Accusations
Healthy love isn’t built in grand gestures or perfect moments. It’s built when two people choose understanding over ego, consistency over intensity, and respect over being right. And knowing those choices are available to you at any moment.
For more in this subject, listen to Jay’s Audible Original "Messy Love", available at https://www.audible.com/pd/Messy-Love
With Love and Gratitude,
Jay Shetty
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What We Discuss:
00:00 Intro
01:17 Difficult Conversations for Deeper Connection
02:24 Principle #1: Influence, Respect, and Recognition
14:50 Principle #2: Scorekeeping
20:15 Principle #3: Conflict Styles
25:50 Principle #4: The X, Y, Z Communication Method
33:14 Principle #5: Create a 30-Day Agreement
Episode Resources:
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