Episode 231: Life Hack – Clearing Conversations

Episode 231: Life Hack - Clearing Conversations: 5 Steps to Clearing Up Miscommunication

November is a set of 3 episodes called 15-minute life hacks. I’m calling the November nudges. Each episode is a quick reminder of a life tool to inspire and help you connect to the world around you as you create your best life story on purpose.   Today is week 1 and we’re bring you 5 actionable steps for clearing up misunderstandings. This life hack is about communication, and Jessica Burrell, owner of Life Amplified will be here for all 3 episodes.   The other day I was at a music festival and most everyone was busy enjoying the music, but one young man walked by the outskirts of the main body screaming into his phone. He REALLY wanted to be heard by the party on the other side.   Communication vies for the top rung on the ladder of human struggles. We want so badly to be heard and understood, as does each person we interact with. But we all have different backgrounds, different stories in our minds, different insecurities that trigger hot buttons, different experiences. We all create different stories in our minds about what is going on. This makes clear communication extremely challenging.   Add in things like text and email that allow things to be taken out of context. It’s a wonder we are not all constantly misunderstanding. Or, maybe we are. Join the audio for my discussion with Jessica Burrell, owner of Amplify Your Life as we discuss the 5 steps of having a clearing conversation. Step 1 - Tell the event without emotion Step 2 - The stories I made up about myself were... Step 3 - The stories I made up about you/institution/world were... Step 4 - I acknowledge my stories and what they created... Step 5 - In the future I commit to...   We share examples about a misunderstanding between Jessica and I; a misunderstanding between Jessica and one of her teammates, we talk about how we create stories in our own minds…. This is one of the most important and self aware aspects of this process.   We can all use clearing conversations multiple times a week. We can use them everybody - kids, friends, associates, parents, etc. This is a person-to-person skill set. Ya know, communication skills should have been taught in public schools, but since they aren’t we get to acquire our own communication skills along our individual paths. This one is golden.   Your challenge this week is to have a clearing conversation with someone you have a misunderstanding with. Just try it. Let them know you’re trying a new format and have them work with you.   I promise - it’s worth it. Please share this with someone - maybe even the someone you want to have the clearing conversation with. We’ll see you in two weeks for the next 15-minute life hack.