How words shape our future

The problem is with communication, there is no right, there is no perfect way to communicate. There are better ways or worse ways, but there is no one right way to do it. And putting pressure on yourself to do it right actually gets in the way of doing it well. It comes down to cognitive load. You only have so much cognitive resource that you can expend. And if part of that is allocated or dedicated to assessing, am I saying it right? Am I doing it right? That gets in the way and sucks up some of that precious cognitive power away from actually doing what communication is all about, which is connection, connecting, building rapport, transmitting information. So I like to say it's about connection, not perfection. Dial down the volume on judgment, although we still do need to judge to some level, and ramp up the focus on connecting with the other person. And if you do that, you actually are a better communicator. This is a hard lesson to learn. I still struggle with it, but it is one that is well worth trying to tackle. [MUSIC]