Uncomfortable Conversations

“Your life shrinks or expands based on the number of uncomfortable conversations you are willing to have. In a society where it has become easy to escape conversation by hiding behind technology, be the person who looks someone in the eye and who listens to someone’s story. Be courageous enough to be uncomfortable and have the conversations others are unwilling to have.”

Most of us try and avoid conflict and uncomfortable conversations. But conflict happens, and we regularly have to make the decision to address it or avoid challenging situations in our personal and work lives.

Feeling like you are hurting someone’s feelings or letting them down is hard. Not feeling selfish for putting your own needs above theirs is hard. I believe this is why so many people stay in relationships and in jobs that are not serving them any longer. People choose to stay stuck over the pain of an uncomfortable conversation.

We all encounter opportunities to have uncomfortable conversations. Talking to a stranger, asking for a sale, trying to start a relationship (friendship, romantic, business), changing a relationship, ending a relationship, leaving a job, firing someone, disagreeing over core issues, telling someone a loved one died—there are so many conversations we can choose to embrace or avoid.

The conversations that make us the most uncomfortable and we remember the most are the ones where we feel the most vulnerable when we feel our true self is exposed. We are often afraid to have conversations because we have nothing to hide behind. We also avoid uncomfortable conversations when we are scared we have something to lose. We fear conversations that upset others, create change, or make us risk losing people or relationships we care about.

What uncomfortable conversation do you need to have?