Listening to people
Listening takes work. It also takes learning to resist urges to speak and take your own ego out of the equation.
The first thing I will do is direct you to a TED talk I listened to some time back that definitely resonated with me and I saved the video for future reference.
We all want to be heard. That seems to be a real emotional need that every one of us has. It is human nature to begin listening to somebody and then want to interject our own experiences or opinions.
It really takes work and focus to stay in tune with what another person is saying while they finish their thoughts and try to make their point.
Now, that doesn't mean we don't talk at all, but it means that we wait until they seem to be looking for the words they want to use, so we can help them out if anything.
The point is this. They thought enough of us to want to tell us what was on their minds, something really important to them. We should respect them enough to listen to them. Otherwise, we aren't being a true friend.
They may not ask our opinion. That's ok if they don't. They may have been trying to find an answer to what was on their mind and by sounding it out with us, a trusted friend, they now know the next step they want to take.
Even if they don't know the next step they want to take, they feel better from just sounding the issue out.
I find that we don't always have the best advice to give somebody else for their particular situation. Even if we have been in a similar situation, we are not them and the experience won't be the same.
Now, if they are begging for advice and asking us what they should do, that's different.
I find that the tongue is the hardest body part to control and our two ears are the two body parts that need to be used more than they are.
We listen with our emotions most of the time. Some people can use logic better than others. Personally, most of the time I think I do pretty good at applying logic to a problem, but I can't say I do that well with it all the time, either.
We are emotional people. We are sometimes too reactive. We don't listen all the way through and then think for a few minutes, at least, about what we just heard.
I know from experience that too many times I will either listen to the first 3 words and then act, or read the first few sentences of something and my mind is already jumping to what I think is being conveyed.
Listen all the way through. Think a situation all the way through, or at least more than just listening to the surface explanation. Ask questions for clarity.
Two people don't have to agree in order to be good friends. Listening all the way through and saying "I understand" can be all that we need to say sometimes.
We can part company for the day and get back together again another day, if not the very next day, and be friends even though we don't agree.
Now, we are allowed to put two links in these articles and I always try to provide value before I put one of my links in here. I hope I have done that.
Whatever program you are involved in, you really need to build an email list around that program in order to follow up with people who don't join right away.
You can take a look at this auto responder if you like.
You have the ability to build up to 50,000 subscribers for the same price each month. That is the logic I am using and it's why I promote it.
Enjoy the day people and thanks for reading.
Scott Moore
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