Positive Communication Soothes the Soul 🙌

Welcome to the OPPO FLOW Storybook. 

Each week I fly an entertaining and motivating story that provides actionable items to inspire growth towards your success and happiness.

The weekly flights bring you one of the following:

A MINDSET SHIFT to prepare for opportunity and build better habits towards success. 🤯

Or…

AN OPPORTUNITY STORY sharing inspirational pivotal moments from someone’s life that changed their trajectory in a positive way. 🚀

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JOURNEY PAYROLL

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Communication is the foundation of human interaction and cooperation.

It drives HAPPINESS.  

It’s that simple.

Well… I will go beyond that and clarify that EFFECTIVE and POSITIVE communication drives happiness.

When communicating in a positive manner, it eliminates conflicts and promotes resolution.

Positive communication with those around you develops strong, long-lasting relationships, which brings a sense of comfort, trust, and willingness to work together.

It enables us to connect with others, share information, and navigate the world around us.

It just makes our lives easier when we’re on the same page with those we work with and those we love the most.

There are many, many forms of communication, and we won’t go through them all here today.

For this week’s FLIGHT 🛫, let’s focus on the main forms of communication used daily in our personal and professional lives. 👊

Verbal communication involves spoken or written words to convey messages.

It includes everyday conversations, phone calls, text messages, emails, and written notes.

When people communicate with kindness, respect, and understanding, it helps in creating stronger connections and deeper bonds with others.

It removes the assumptions or misinterpretation of someone’s tone or plan.

And you know what happens when you ASSUME, RIGHT?!

YUP… You make an ASS🍑 outta U🫵 and ME😐.

In my family, we have a non-negotiable Core Value around communication.

My wife and I are going on 13 years of marriage and we’ve always been good communicators.

Communication has been a driving force for us being together for so long and still love each other more than ever. 🥰

As we grow old together, our views, lifestyle, habits change, and we adapt, so it takes work to keep the communication effective for a long lasting understanding of one another.

I’m not a relationship counselor by any means, but I can almost guarantee you, your relationship won’t last long without solid communication and trust between one another.

Here is an example…

If something is bothering one of us, we don’t let it go more than 24 hours before bringing it up for discussion and addressing the issue.

This allows the person having the problem the time to work through it themselves to see if it’s really a problem…

…And if it remains to be an issue, we don’t bottle it up inside.

WE TALK. 🗣️

We nip it in the bud, compromise if needed, and move on.

Another thing that my wife and I have found to work super well is being open and letting each other know our goals for the day.

For example, on a weekend I may let her know that I’d like to accomplish the following throughout the day…

• Go to the gym.

• Write a Storybook Feature.

• Put together a podcast outline.

• Get the trucks washed.

• Take the kids to the park.

She’ll then let me know how she’d like her day to go and we figure out a way to make it all work for both of us.

We don’t always get everything done, but this communication has been extremely effective in avoiding any unexpected surprises.

TRY IT:

Write down your goals for the day and share them with your spouse, partner, or significant other.

In teamwork and collaborative work environments, positive verbal communication enhances the flow of ideas, encourages brainstorming, and promotes cooperation. 👊

When team members communicate with enthusiasm and encouragement, they are more likely to share their perspectives and work together harmoniously.

Keeping up the enthusiasm helps build company culture and enjoyment in the workplace. 💃🕺

After all, they say you spend more time with your co-workers than you do your own family.

Have each other’s backs and be transparent with how someone is making you feel.

There is nothing worse than bottling it up inside for a long period of time, only to blow up 💣 on someone, or worse quit, when you’ve reached your last straw.

Especially when the other team member had no idea there was even an issue in the first place and would have been happy to adjust accordingly had they been made aware from the get-go.

When there is conflict, you can be direct, while also keeping an open mind to understand the other person’s perspective.

Speak to one another with respect.

As a leader, remain positive, communicate often, and be open with your vision.

TRY IT:

Tell a team member that they’re doing a great job and that you’re happy to be on this journey with them.

When I was growing up, my mom would always leave a sticky note with any reminders or info we needed before we left for school.

You know something like… “lunches are in the fridge” or “don’t forget to grab your homework.”

The note was always signed ~ Mom :)

The smiley face would let us know that she was happy and she loved us.

She’d put one on every single note, every single morning.

Of course, she had days when she wasn’t happy or wasn’t having the best morning; but she’d still throw it on the note and it provided the perception of happiness.

All people need is the perception of happiness around them to remain on their path and keep going.

It also helps put you in a tiny bit better mood when you show positive expression.

That little smiley face would always put a smile on our faces as well, which set the tone for our days.

I’ll always remember that little impact it had on me as a kid and now, my wife and I also do this with our kids.

It’s a nice little effortless thing to add and shows that you care. 😊

TRY IT:

Write your children a note to wake up to in the morning with a smiley. If you don’t have children send a text to a close friend or family member to let them know you’re thinking about them.

At JOURNEY PAYROLL & HR, we serve our clients at a high level by leading with heart. 💓

We have over 98% client retention YOY, because WE CARE. 🫶

Not only do we know that we care, but we make sure our clients KNOW that we care by showing emotion in written form, such as email.

It can be so difficult to show your high level of care when responding via email only using periods and dry responses.

When my team communicates with clients or amongst themselves internally, they’re not afraid to use a smiley face or exclamation point to give the perception of happiness.

WHY?!

Well, first of all… because WE ARE HAPPY. 😁

Secondly… we don’t want anyone to misinterpret our tone or intention.

There are good days and bad days.

We’re all human.

Even if we’re not necessarily the most chipper in that moment, the other person does not need to be a part of that, because we can give the perception of happiness at all times in the written form once we develop this habit.

Now, I am not saying go crazy and be obnoxious with your smileys or exclamation points. 🙅‍♀️🙅‍♂️

I do agree that there needs to be some discretion in a professional setting, but showing emotion and your personality through email, text, or chats goes EXTREMELY FAR when building relationships with your clients and team members.

Let me give you an example…

Let’s say you are reaching out via email because you need help with something and the response you get is one of the following…

Which response gives off the perception that the support specialist is truly happy to help, loves what they do, and is eager to find you a resolution?

Even though, they are typing the exact same words, the expression in the latter gives a much warmer response in an effort to continue building the relationships with your clients and team members.

We’ve even had some clients respond back and say, “I really appreciated your smiley face just now. I wasn’t having the best day, but that made me smile, so thank you!”

I also had an X (formerly Twitter) convo awhile back with a random and skeptical stranger on this exact example. 😉

TRY IT:

Start your email response with a greeting by first name and exclamation point, then add a smiley emoji at some point throughout your email or chat.

TO WRAP THIS FLIGHT UP WITH A BOW… 🎀

Remember to be open and positive with your communication at all times, show an interest in others’ well being, and throw an “!” or “🙂" in your email or text replies to see how you make the other person feel.

I promise you’ll start to see others respond back with a willingness to work or compromise with you more, in both a personal and professional setting. 🙌

There is nothing more fulfilling when everyone is on the same page, happy, working in sync, and focusing on their mission.

This is the MINDSET SHIFT. 🤯

GOOD LUCK!

Until our next FLIGHT, enjoy your YOUTUBE Music Video of the Week! 👇

Remember, Opportunity is Everywhere!!

Cheers! Steven

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