A beautiful habit, which I have realized, invites more friends than talking .. though speaking is necessary, its important to listen to the other person.
This concept was introduced to me by a friend of mine when he pointed out that I don't listen and talk a lot. He then went ahead to deliver a sermon on the virtues of listening. Guess what! It made complete sense. The very next day I decided to listen carefully .. really make and effort to listen . I picked up the first class for the day- which happened to be statistics. Though statistics is not my strong subject and I am usually lost, surprisingly I was able to comprehend most of what the professor taught that day. So what did I do different ? Well for once paid attention to what he said- listened instead of hearing
What’s the difference? Well this is what I can boil it down to, listening involves doing the following things
- Be on mute mode
- Hear what is being said
- Process it inside your head
- Keep your mind open ( throw the lock and key away for good)
- Do not interrupt the flow the user’s talk in your head by day dreaming
- Note down before you speak to clarify a doubt and wait till the end before you ask a question
- Rephrase what you said so that you really understand what the speaker said and you understand it
Yes, its a lot difficult than hearing. Requires a lot more energy and focus to keep listening, however it becomes a habit over a period of time and does not feel tiring. I have been trying it in my various lectures with varing degree of success. I realised that I can concentrate easily in the first lecture and the concentration decreases as the day goes by. However, I am getting better with practice.
Try it .. try listening to someone and you will be amazed to learn so many amazing things.
