Improve your perception-checking ability by developing complete perception-checking statements for each of the following situations. Be sure your statements include a description of the behavior, two plausible interpretations, and a request for verification.

a. You made what you thought was an excellent suggestion to your boss. He or she said, “I’ll get back to you about that right away.” It’s been 3 weeks, and you haven’t received a response yet.

b. You haven’t received the usual weekly phone call from your family in over a month. Last time you spoke, you had an argument about where to spend the holidays.

After you’ve created your perception-checking statements, share them with some friends or family members and see how they would respond if they were the recipients.