Communicate with Those Who Are Close

Do you ever struggle to communicate with someone really close to you?

Maybe it's a family member. Maybe it's your team. Maybe it's someone you are building a relationship with.

Even with much practice, it can be difficult to communicate with someone we're really close to. We take some messages for granted. We expect them to know exactly what we want (turning them into the mind reader they are NOT).

We can even lose patience.

I've had days when I spent the whole day helping other people learn how to communicate more effectively only to come home and fail to communicate clearly, or attentively, with my own family. I'm not proud of it. I worked to get better. But there you have it. Sometimes it's hardest to communicate with those we are closest to.

We push their buttons. They push our buttons.

It's a good time to practice our communication CLUES to Success:

Create agreements
Listen with curiosity
Understand the facts and feelings
Express ourselves clearly and positively
Share responsibility for success

Without making assumptions or jumping to conclusions, we can do a better communication job.

Let's slow down. Let's practice listening. Let's give those who are closest to us our best effort at communicating, whether we are sending or receiving. Sure it's hard.

Don't give up.

-- Doug Smith

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