UNITED STATES—There is something I have to admit America. I don’t have the best communication skills. I like to think I do, but I know it is indeed a constant work in progress, after nearly 4 decades on this planet you learn something new about yourself each day. One thing that always struck me odd as a kid is that I was shy. I was not the class talker, I could not easily walk up to people and make friends, it was difficult for me to converse with people. However, if I ever had to do public speaking my voice would project and it would stun people as a result. It was like a switch was turned on in me that shocked everyone when they heard my voice.

It got better as I got older, but improved more with my current work that requires me to engage with people in a daily basis. If you can’t communicate properly it makes it that much harder to get the job completed America, I’ve learned the more I talk, the more I express myself, the better that I get with my communication style. If with the constant self-evaluation done on a daily basis I have not neared the level of perfection I want.

Why? I think I sometimes get too much in my head. I’m constantly thinking about what I’m going to say before I say it, I have to plan out my words carefully because I don’t want to say something that is unclear or misconstrued. I think that might be my anxiety playing tricks on me as well because we get so enamored with trying to make sure that we clearly say what is on our mind or how things unfold in a particular situation. That’s the problem: we all have various forms of communication. No two people have the same communication style, no matter how hard we attempt to convince ourselves or others that we do, sorry America, we do not, we never have and we never will.

I might think something I said or wrote is clear as night as day, but that is MY communication style; I understand it and know what I intended to say. The person receiving that message MAY NOT fully comprehend or understand what you wrote or verbally stated. You have to ensure there is precision and direct clarity in what you say.

You want this person to fully understand what you are conveying. Why? If you blur the lines you only open the doors for further issues with communication. You don’t want to create this never ending cycle of confusion that causes communication problems and then you have issues on top of issues and guess what nothing gets resolved.

If someone is telling you that your communication sucks, they probably have a point and you have to figure out a way to improve things. Write down where you are struggling and how you can fix them. The first step to improving your communication style is to acknowledge a problem exists. Once you do that asks for ways to improve and come up with ways to improve yourself as well. There is NOTHING WRONG WITH ADMITTING YOUR COMMUNICATION IS NOT THE BEST! That is something that I have learned as I continue to age. We get a bit engulfed into our feelings and our own ego taking a blow, we want to protect it.

Having a dose of truth is NOT a bad thing it’s a reality check, that reality check can help you in the long run. A person who communicates with ease finds a way to ensure everyone understands them clearly no matter what situation arises. Communication is a constant improvement it is something we can battle for the rest of our lives and we likely will. You’re dealing with people so open up the door to see that improvement and you will be happy with the result when you give it a shot people.