Hi, I'm Xueying
I grew up in a household where my opinions were often silenced.
My father still insists that expressing a different point of view only causes discord. Although, I’ve come to realize that a lack of healthy, honest communication comes at a cost to relationships. This is something my parents couldn’t teach me.
I was drawn to MasterCom because I struggled to speak my mind in more conversations than I’d like to admit.
These struggles affected friendships and professional relationships, both new and old. And due to my “need to please,” I held back my thoughts, afraid that expressing my views would risk my relationships. It felt like whatever I had to say wasn’t as important as making a good impression or staying in someone’s good graces. I knew this was something to address, but I didn’t know how.
Instead of allowing me to hide in silence, MasterCom pushed me to explore my conversational limits.
Why was I so worried that sharing my opinions would make others uncomfortable? How could I trust myself more? What was holding me back from deepening my relationships?
MasterCom gave me a space where I could think differently, and most of all, connect authentically with myself.
And how? Well, I practiced sitting through discomfort, accepting that it isn’t anything to worry about. Discomfort is just a feeling.
As a result, I became less anxious about having conversations, difficult and otherwise. Instead of seeing conversations as obstacles, I began seeking them out as opportunities for learning and to build trust.
By putting these ideas into practice for a month...
I connected more authentically with loved ones whose presence I call home and strangers I had just met. With childhood friends, we talked about struggles with eating disorders, deaths in the family, and unsupported dreams, topics I was once too afraid to ask about, even if they brought it up.
But it wasn’t solely about “hard” conversations. MasterCom has influenced all my conversations.
I started the program in the middle of a big life transition: I moved to another city and started a new career. During this time, I was much more open. I started to show up to conversations by sharing who I am and asking for what I need from others.
Before MasterCom, I didn’t expect that I could build this depth in newer relationships so quickly.
Or that I could have conversations with people whose political views would’ve once enraged me too much to talk to them. But by being myself, being more vulnerable, recognizing moments for powerful questions and actually asking them, I’ve changed my relationships with others, and myself, for the better.
— Xueying, Journalist
Would you like to talk
more in-depth about your
challenges and frustrations?
What’s one thing…
You could do today to improve the way you communicate in your most important relationship?