“When you value a relationship an important question to ask yourself is, What is your need in this relationship? It is important to understand each other’s needs and give feedback.
Unfortunately withholding feelings or not knowing how to disclose in a constructive way causes people to be totally unaware of our reactions to their behaviors.
Many relationships that could be productive and enjoyable gradually detiorate under the accumulated load of tiny annoyances and hurt feelings and misunderstandings that were never talked about openly.”
I wish I could take credit for all that you have read so far in this particular blog but I am not the author. The beginning of this blog up to this point has been taken out of my recent business communications text book. The sentences were taken from a chapter here, a paragraph there as I jotted them down. Pondering on each sentence as they struck me. One by one.. Many of the key points in this book hit home with me…so much so that I read 21 chapters in a span of three days and finished the 8 week course in about a week.
What this book helped me sort out in my own mind and helped me clearly define and identify were the following points:
1.) If there is not consistency in communication or openness, for example Inconsistency, especially between words & actions decreases trust.
2.)Through this course I was able to clearly articulate what I do want…(which is a good thing! How many of us don’t even know what we want in relationships) I want to feel connected, important and valued. I believe these are fair requests in any friendship or relationship, and reflects the importance of communication.
3.) Do you trust? People make themselves vulnerable when they trust…and is important to communication.
“If you don’t know what your objectives are in a relationship, it is difficult to know what your problems are, let alone what to do about them. Are your needs being met by the current situation? Does the nature of the actual relationship match the desired one?”
These are powerful points to reflect on and all from a business communications textbook! Thus I wanted to share as you can see you can apply the concepts both professionally and personally.
Powerful stuff, then I came across this mini blog today that I started but never finished back in August as I scrolled through my NOTES app. I had written the following thoughts of mine back on 8/11/16:
What breaks hearts? Think about it, its relationships….what is a relationship. As simply put its communication between two people. But how hard it can be to always keep that channel open. That’s why relationships take work. It’s an equal effort by both parties involved to understand one another, respect the others perspective while still sharing their thoughts and feelings.
Fast forward to today, November 4th….I thought it would be fitting for me to share and reflect the thoughts of my heart back in August and contrast with some important points and perspectives that I recently read in my school work. Hopefully it may give you some perspective or at least get you thinking about your communication style. Your relationships and more importantly help you have a better understanding of what you want.
Amazing how simple yet complex communication can be…good or bad. Simple when you trust, easy to share when care, powerful when you express what’s on your mind, and all possible with a brave spirit…
