11 Signs You Need to Change How You Communicate

By Christy Matta, MA

 

Strained relationships create stress and can have a negative impact on your mood and your ability to function throughout the day.  When you’re in conflict with someone else, you’re more likely to be worried, distracted or highly emotional.
We cannot make other people act as we’d wish, but we can become aware of when we act in ways that lead to problems in relationships.  As we identify our own communication problems, we can choose to make changes in how we interact. If you do, you might just find that you’re able to solve intractable problems and that habitual conflicts no longer occur.
Making even small changes to how you communicate can improve the quality of your relationships.

Signs You Need to Change Course:

1. You get an angry response.  You might have good reason to confront someone, but if you are getting an angry response, it may be time to step back and assess your goals in the situation.  When interactions begin to deteriorate into angry reactions, they often stop being productive.  Try taking a breather and remembering what you wanted to achieve when you began the interaction.  For example, were you hoping for an apology, did you want the other person to help you out or acknowledge wrong doing?  Is it a case of misunderstandings?  How might you describe your goal to the other person and ask for what you want, rather than become distracted by angry comments? Click here to read more.