Of course you want to have a positive outcome to an important discussion!

But sometimes it just doesn't happen and you're not sure why.

Let's look at five possible ways you may have been jeopardizing the success of a conversation. Each of these can have a huge impact on how the communication will develop.

CANCEL THE APPOINTMENT AT THE LAST MINUTE

What better way is there to show that you don't value the meeting you've scheduled?
Setting a time and keeping to it AND being right on time shows the importance you have placed on the discussion.

I just heard an amusing story that illustrates how a lack of communication can create some real problems.

A photographer for CNN was assigned to cover southern California's wildfires last year. He wanted pictures of the heroic work the firefighters were doing as they battled the blazes. When the photographer arrived on the scene, he realized that the smoke was so thick it would seriously impede, or even make impossible, his getting good photographs from the ground level.

Do you wonder whether your audience actually reads what you write? How often do you glance at an article title or first sentence and just skip reading it? Or read something very quickly just to get to the bottom line?

We have become a scanning society. With the abundance of information in hard copy as well as on the web, taking time to read something thoroughly doesn't happen often.

If you find yourself being super critical of yourself, you are probably a perfectionist.
You may even be proud of the fact that you are a perfectionist.

Is perfectionism a good thing? Let's take a look at some of the imperfect parts of perfectionism.

Being a perfectionist is one of the biggest causes of procrastination. If you find yourself putting off starting a job, notice what your expectations are of yourself.

Mess. Clutter. Disorder. We've all learned that these are bad. We should avoid them at all costs. Children's rooms should not have toys all around them. Office desks need to be organized and not too personalized. Lawns need to be well groomed to fit in with the rest of the neighborhood.

Who decided this? Is it really better to be organized and structured than to have free flow and flexibility?

In "A Perfect Mess: The Hidden Benefits of Disorder", Eric Abrahamson and David H.

How often do you hold your tongue and not speak the truth of what you are thinking?

What do you love doing that you haven't done in a long time?

Does your creativity get shoved into the box of what you think will please others?

If so, you may be letting your fear of criticism rule your life. This is one of the key sources of struggle people face.

"My mission?

Not only do I not know if I want to accept it, I don't even know what it is!"

Does that sound familiar?

Your mission doesn't have to fit into a lot of the molds you may have imagined.

Have you dismissed the idea of having a mission as something for more significant or complicated endeavors?

Your mission doesn't have to be huge or to save the world in order to be worth having.

Mind mapping can seem like such a disorderly process. You pull out a big sheet of paper, get the markers rounded up, and start writing, drawing circles and lines in
all directions. How can this help with focus?

Lack of focus is one of the key sources of struggle for most people. Sometimes it takes thinking "out of the box" to get some direction.

After completing the Vision and Mission Statement portions of a Business Plan, the next step is to come up with strong strategies that will make the business successful.

Along with setting the direction of the creation and maintenance of your business, strategic planning establishes a guide for evaluating the important business decisions that must be made.

In order to write a vision for your business, the first step is identifying who you really are and what is important to you.

Not what you DO or have been doing, but who you ARE.

You may be doing things that are really not in alignment with what is important to you in your business. It's critical to identify any of those discrepancies to redirect your efforts toward a successful venture.