Welcome to today's episode of The Mindset Mentor Podcast where today I'm going to be sharing 3 steps that anyone can follow to quickly and easily start having better communication with everyone in your life. Communication is one of the most important skills that you as a human being can have, for deepening your connection with other people. I believe that open, honest, and sincere communication IS the #1 key to maintaining any relationship in your life. The problem is... We aren't really taught growing up the HOW to communicate. So then we spend so much time, and heartache in our adult lives suffering through the discovery process of how to communicate better with those around us. That's why today I'm giving you the 3 steps to becoming a better communicator coming from a place of LUV. (Yes, I spelt that right. Let me show you what I mean...) 1. L- Listen. Listen with no intention of responding with your opinion, or your input in any sort of way. Empathetic presence is the act of being fully present with another person in more than just a physical way. This means setting aside your own thoughts, judgements, etc... and being entirely "with" the person you're talking to. This creates a place of safe space for other people so that they feel like they can communicate with you, and give you a chance to listen at all. 2. U- Understand. In the same way that you can convey that you're listening through non verbal cues, you can also do the same thing when it comes to understanding. Reflect and Repeat. You can use verbal cues like, "Okay... If I understand you correctly, you're saying...is that right?" BOOM. This is just one example of how to communicate that you're trying to understand. 3. V- Validate. More than anything else right now, everyone we are communicating with would like to feel VALID when they're communicating with us. Perception is reality for everyone right now. Meaning that we are all looking at the world through the lens of our own unique abilities to perceive it. Here's what's KEY here: Validating someone doesn't have to mean you agree with them, but it does mean acknowledging that someone's opinion is valid. You don't have to argue, you don't have to fix, etc... Sometimes all a person needs is validation. Here's a BONUS question that can help you out in your relationships. Ask this question when someone's expressing something to you... "Do you want my help with this, or do you just want a hug?" Every single person on this planet is doing the best with what they have. We all just want to be understood. And the way for you to improve your relationships with everyone you interact with... seek to understand. It's a two way street my friends.