"Communication leads to community, that is, to understanding, intimacy and mutual valuing".
-Rollo May
Communication is the foundation of life and business.
All relationships require work to maintain them and keep them healthy. Proper communication is needed to keep them flourishing. The more you communicate with people the more they can learn to understand you better which facilitates a perfect environment for positive healthy relationships. You have to fight for these things. If you continually maintain communication within your relationships, it will allow you to grow.
If you have open communication it creates relationships that can freely explore, create, and innovate. If there is a lack of communication it will stunt the growth and people will naturally shrink away until the relationship is fully cut off. We have so many ways to communicate with people, yet I feel like we are at an all time low with deep and honest relationships.
Being connected and communicating are two very different things.
When there is consistent healthy communication in relationships, you can be way more effective. Being alone does not produce the best results. Being with people and having relationships that communicate in a healthy manner always produce better results. It's one of the great things about humans. We truly do things better together. Certainly we all need some alone time, but as a whole, we are made to be in communication with each other. When we are around each other we can encourage, share experiences, and take care of each other. Proper communication can solve potential personal issues before they even start if there are open pathways.
In my business it's crucial that I communicate well with my clients. I am the last step in the creation of music. It's my job to effectively communicate to them what we can achieve, what I need from them to get their music out properly and professionally, and to field any questions they may have. I am their safety net. I can give great feedback and insight into what the final product will be like and give them either the sign off that a project is done and ready or if it needs to be revisited in order to get the best end product. This is built from trust and honest communication. It's built from following up and being willing to respectfully ask for things to be adjusted or fixed. Healthy communication allows for this to happen.
Every relationship that I have ever lost has directly come from a lack of communication. First it may start with a week passing, then a month, then a year and all of a sudden you don't even know that person or that client. What once was a thriving relationship is nothing more than a memory. People come and go in our lives, but if one side stops communicating there is only so much in the reserve to keep the relationships alive. Proper consistent communication even if it's brief will always keep a relationship growing at some level.
When I have open communication with people, transparency is always a direct result. If you are harnessing things against people or clients, then those become barricades that get in the way of communication. If there is transparency, then both sides will always feel like they can be honest and open which makes hard situations becomes less intense. Trying to rekindle a relationship that has not had communication in multiple months is very difficult. It's almost like starting over and sometimes you have to rebuild everything again in order to have transparency.
This week I want to challenge you to reach out to your friends, clients, and family. Communication is necessary to have healthy relationships, which in turn create a health place for personal growth and stability. The simple phone call or text may seem like it's not going to do much, but any sort of substance is crucial if your relationships are in a drought. You never know what one conversation can do to start to reopen a healthy pathway for communication.
Peace