People are used to communicating with sounds and words.

But it’s not the only way they communicate. Most people also send signals.

A signal is a message people believe they have sent. It is most often a message they hope the other will understand without them needing to say it out loud. It’s the sweet spot in which they hope to be seen.

A signal can also be the message someone believes to have understood. It’s a message one believes to have understood and takes as the basis for further action. It’s the place where one assumes to have understood what to do.

But actually, both sender and receiver have mainly acted on their own.

Instead of focusing on the signs one might not have understood or seen, that is on the details others could do better, one may have more chances to succeed by reflecting on one’s own unheard signs.

One usually has an idea as to what should have been understood. As it has not been understood there is also an understanding that it has not been heard.

What was missing for it to be heard? Could it have been signaled more clearly? Would it have been possible to verify if it has been received?

It may seem unfair and more challenging to review one’s way of communicating. But it might also be the way that allows for most self-care. Instead of remaining frustrated about not being heard, the opportunity to learn what one can do to be heard as one hopes to be heard serves one’s need to be heard.