Life can be stressful! And when our stress goes up, our communication skills go down. (Way down!) So the next time you feel your temperature rise, or feel triggered and about to say or do something you’ll regret, try this simple technique.

Between the speed of life and seemingly endless to-do lists, the thought of building better communication skills can feel like adding the final, toppling piece to your Jenga tower of tasks. But what if I told you that you could communicate more effectively and set yourself up to have a better day in just three minutes? Would you give it a try?

Have you ever stopped to listen to the story your mind tells—the constant stream of thoughts that shape your daily experience? These recurring thoughts are like scripts and hidden within them are the narratives of your life. But here's the secret: you are not just the actor playing a role; you are the writer, director, and protagonist of your own story.

Have you ever noticed how a single conversation can set the tone for your entire day? It's not just the words you say, it's the tone, energy, and consideration behind them that leaves an impression––positively or negatively.

There’s always a price to pay when we communicate from our style under stress. We can either invest the time upfront to calm our emotions and choose our response, so we are at our best. Or, we can invest even more time repairing the damage we caused when our emotional reaction overpowered our judgment.

We all want to lead successful lives, filled with happiness, health, and meaning. But what many of us fail to realize is that true success doesn’t come from what we do or what we have. It’s a natural outcome of who we are and how we treat people. It’s about the quality of our relationships and our ability to cultivate trust and get along well with others.

Expanding your self-awareness is always the first step toward becoming a better communicator. But simply knowing something about yourself isn’t enough. It takes intentional practice to build strong communication skills. This is where creating a daily practice comes into play.

Here’s a simple truth that becomes obvious when you step back and take a look at it. If we want to become better communicators, we need to become better people. We need to become more conscious of what we say and do and the impact we have on others.

You know that feeling when someone says something that hits a nerve and immediately destabilizes you? One minute you’re feeling fine and the next you’re suddenly spiraling in emotions of anger, panic, guilt, or shame?

That’s an emotional trigger. And we all have them.

We don’t often think about communication on an energetic level, but our words, intentions, thoughts, and emotions carry a frequency (or vibration) that telegraphs far more than you may be aware of.

No matter how much we love our jobs or the people we work with, disagreements will happen from time to time. The reality is that work can feel overwhelming when life unfolds faster than we can handle things and stress rarely brings out the best in anyone.

We’re well aware of the fact that workplace stress is having a massive impact on our physical, emotional, and mental health. Even so, we don’t always recognize how stress impacts our ability to communicate and the toll that it takes on our relationships. The good news is that we have far more control over our well-being than we utilize.

Communication is at the heart of our success. Think about it, nearly every job revolves around communication in some form. In fact, we communicate so frequently that we rarely give it much consideration. But we’d be far better off if we did. How we communicate influences everything, from how effectively we build relationships to our level of well-being.

The irony of being a good communicator is that your ability to express yourself isn’t the most important factor in the equation. It’s listening. Genuine listening is one of the fastest ways to elevate your communication skills––and most of us have loads of room for improvement in this area.

We all want to feel successful in our work. It’s human nature to want to know that who we are and what we do makes a meaningful difference––that we’re having a positive impact on another person, our community, and the world around us. We’re capable of having meaningful experiences every day when we learn to stay tuned in to what we say and do. Staying tuned in is where things get tricky and why being intentional when you communicate is so important.

It’s no secret that stress is having a massive impact on our physical, emotional, and mental health. But, did you know that when your stress levels go up the quality of your breathing goes down? Most of us don’t pay much attention to our breathing, but we should.

On some level, most of us understand that emotions are contagious. But what we may not fully appreciate is that we have the ability to cultivate more positive emotions and direct our daily experiences. Once you understand that your emotions carry a vibration you become more attuned to what you’re feeling and how your attitude impacts others.

We all like to be at our best and shine. And yet, we power through so often that we’re often operating from exhaustion than creative brilliance. Fortunately, the remedy is delightfully simple. Take a break. Do something you enjoy. Nourish yourself in some small way, every day.

It turns out that life-enhancing technologies are anything but. Studies show we check our phones roughly 80x/day and give them five hours of our attention. And as much as we love our phones they are not loving us back. In fact, our connection addiction is actually detrimental to our health and well-being.

There’s only so much emotional stress we can take before we get into a funk. And given that most of us experience some level of daily stress, it’s important that we also have positive daily rituals that keep our energy strong and boost our resilience.