Most people have a tendency to use more words than necessary to communicate. Oftentimes we say things over and over again when we do not believe that others are hearing what we are saying. I believe the scientific term for persistently repeating oneself (especially to a loved one) is: “nagging.”
Few people would say, “I love when other people nag me;” still, even fewer people can say that they haven’t nagged others. When we are being nagged, we have a tendency to listen to the words people are saying. When we nag others, we want them to understand the intention that we are expressing.
What if we only had one word that we could exude when we wanted to repeat ourselves to someone else? What word would come out? Similarly, what if we could only hear one word coming from others who are nagging us? What word would summarize the intent of the communication? Would it be “love,” “care,” “hurt,” “fear,” or something else?
The next time others are nagging toward us, maybe we could listen beyond the words they are expressing and look for the one word they are hoping to exude.
Maybe the next time we want to nag someone else, we can skip all the unnecessary words and simply express the one word that we want to communicate.
Learning to express only one word to others – our intention – and learning how to weed through the diatribes of others to hear the one-word that is emanating from them can revolutionize how we communicate.