A blog of lessons for life
A Brief Guide on Communication Skills You Need to Master
In short — Strong communication skills start with active listening, clear nonverbal cues, simple emotion management, and everyday empathy. If you want support, explore Leadership Coaching or Online Coaching. There are a few fundamental communication skills you need to master to be a better teammate and leader. These skills also strengthen relationships and help others engage with your ideas. Below is a brief guide you can apply today. 1) Active listening Communication works when the other person feels heard. Practice: keep eye contact, reflect the main point in your own words, and ask one clarifying question before replying. A short summary like “So what I’m hearing is…” keeps conversations on track. For personal practice frameworks, see our Mental Fitness Coaching. Further reading: a concise definition of active listening from the APA Dictionary. Active listening 2) Nonverbal communication Your body speaks first. Posture, facial expression, and tone shape how your message lands. Sit open, relax your shoulders, and slow your pace. Aim for congruence: match your words with the nonverbal signal (e.g., calm tone for a sensitive topic). If you lead teams, see Leadership Coaching for applied tools. Further reading: APA on nonverbal communication. Nonverbal communication 3) Manage emotions (yours and theirs) When emotions spike, meaning blurs. Try a quick reset: pause, breathe out slowly for five counts, name the feeling (“frustrated”), then choose one clear sentence you want to land. A simple boundary like “Let’s focus on the decision criteria” protects the conversation. For everyday stress skills, see Mental Fitness
1. Anxiety Exercise: Shift Your Thoughts
In short — When anxious thoughts start to spiral, use one simple anxiety exercise: breathe slowly, ground with your senses, reframe the thought, then move for a minute. The short video below shows each step. Why thoughts spiral Often, one worrying thought triggers the next. For example, mood drops and clear thinking fades. However, you can break this loop early with a few quick actions. Moreover, these simple tools are easy to learn and you can use them anywhere. Need guidance? Try Anxiety Management; alternatively, take the Mental Fitness Quiz, or work 1:1 via Online Coaching. 4 quick resets (watch + try) First, breathe slowly. Inhale through the nose and exhale through the mouth for 3–5 minutes. Therefore, aim for longer exhales to calm the stress response. See the NHS breathing guide. Next, ground with 5-4-3-2-1. Name five things you can see, four you can feel, three you can hear, two you can smell, and one you can taste. As a result, your attention shifts to the present. A brief how-to: URMC. Then, reframe the thought. Ask, “What is the evidence? What else could be true?” In turn, gentle reframing helps you see more than one story. Learn more at Harvard Health. Finally, move for 60 seconds. Walk to the window, stretch your arms, or shake out your hands. Also, small movement releases tension and resets focus. See practical tips from NIMH. Video Video: Anxiety Exercise — Shift Your Thoughts Video summary: In the video, you’ll learn a short “interrupt
2. Anxiety Exercise: Relax By Staying Mindful
Staying in the present moment by focusing gently and without judgment on your current state and surroundings is called mindfulness. Research has shown that mindfulness helps us reduce anxiety by creating a calm state of mind while feeling your thoughts racing and anxiety is building. These are some four easy steps to bring yourself outside your thoughts into the present: The attached video will support this process by guiding you through the four steps. If you feel you need more support or have more questions pls contact me.
3. Anxiety Exercise: Find Your Safe Place
Having a safe place —physical or virtual— where you can go to relax and recharge is incredibly important for maintaining good mental health. A judgment-free zone where you can let your guard down and truly be yourself. In this video I will guide you to your safe place in where you can painting a mental picture of a place that makes you feel relaxed and calms your brain and body. Before watching the video pls find a comfortable place, allow your imagination to create with no judgement and be aware of your breathing. If you lose focus gently move your thoughts back to your safe place until your feel your anxiety lifting. I hope you enjoyed this video. Play it and visit this place in your mind whenever you feel anxious. If you have further questions or need more support pls contact me.
4. Anxiety Exercise: Relax Your Muscles
Releasing the stress in your muscles usually reduce the anxiety levels. When you feel anxious, you might notice tension in your muscles. This muscle stress can make your anxiety more difficult to handle in the moment you’re experiencing it. This is an simple exercise to quickly reduce your muscle tension during moments of anxiety: The attached video will give you some guidance to make it more easy for you to relax and manage moments of anxiety. If you have further questions and need more support contact me.
4 Tips for Looking and Feeling More Confident
Are you looking for ways of looking and feeling more confident? Have you ever been in a situation where you needed to be confident but you just were not feeling it? Being confident is important but sometimes it can be hard to come by. While some people may have confidence that lasts, for the rest of us the feeling is not a constant. When we are with people we know well, it is easy to be confident, but when we are in a new situation or with strangers, it can take some time before we feel self-assured. So what is the secret to believing in yourself? You simply have to seem or look confident to others around you. A major part of confidence involves how you look and appear, rather than how you feel. Confidence is a learned skill that can be built with adequate practice. Here are a few simple ways to increase your self-confidence: 1. Keep a Good Posture Good posture is the foundation of looking confident. If you are sitting, make sure your back is straight, but not rigid. Sit up tall and keep your chin up. If you are standing, keep your weight balanced on both feet, your shoulders square and relaxed. This friendly, open postures make others feel comfortable around you. 2. Maintain Eye Contact Eye contact is essential for projecting confidence. Look people in the eye whether you are talking to one person or you are addressing a group. Your gaze should be strong