Page 43 - Effective communication Skills by Dale King

good idea to set aside a bit of time at the end of the day to take a walk and

think about your emotions of the day. You could journal about them as well,
or talk to a person you trust.

Whatever you choose to do, I think that you are going to have a better
understanding of who you are at the end of the day. This will also make it a
lot easier for you to understand those around you as well.

2. Understanding Others

Through commitment to thoughtfulness and practice, anybody is able to learn

how to understand the feelings and thoughts of other people. Now that you
better understand your own emotions, it is time to think about the emotions of
others. Start training yourself to ask “How does this look from their
perspective?” Take enough time to reach a reasonable answer.

This doesn’t mean you have to be a mind reader or understand what
everybody is thinking at all times, all you should do is try to imagine what it
is like to be that person for a moment, and then make a reasonable guess

about their feelings or thoughts.

Let’s say that you have to sit through an excruciatingly boring conversation
with a friend who is talking about their stamp collection. If you see it from
only your perspective, you are probably going to get frustrated and snap.

But if you take a moment to view things from their perspective, you will
understand why they are talking about their stamps. If they are your friends,
then more than likely they aren’t purposely trying to bore you. Chances are

they were so excited to tell you about a new rare stamp they got; they forgot
how boring you think stamps are.

You see it as being trapped. They see it as sharing exciting news with a
friend.

Taking a moment to think about things from their perspective, you will be
able to handle the situation better. This will make sure that you won’t snap at
them. Instead, you could gently steer the conversation in a different direction.
Or, you can take the opportunity to learn more about your friend and create a

stronger relationship.

A flaw in the human character is that we get trapped in our own perspective.
It is OUR perspective. Instead of trying to see things from another point of