I used to replay conversations in my head after I spoke up and to be honest if a conversation is particularly difficult or didn’t go the way I intended, still do. Could (I never should on myself) I have said it differently, softer, kinder? Eventually I saw the pattern — I wasn’t unclear.I was just talking to someone who wasn’t ready to hear me.
We confuse being misunderstood with being wrong. So we shrink. Rephrase. Over-explain.Clarity doesn’t guarantee connection — and that’s not a personal failure.
What if the goal isn’t to be understood by everyone … but to be aligned with yourself when you speak?
Where have you been taking responsibility for someone else’s inability to meet you?