Are you listening?

Listening is one of the most powerful tools you can use. Most people don’t listen with the intent to understand they listen with the intent to reply.

When they are listening, they are filtering everything through their own frame of reference, reading their own autobiography into other people’s lives. Often instead of listening when the speaker is telling a story, they will say:

“I know how you feel I went through the very same thing myself let me tell you my story”

Which means…
They rob the conversation and tell you all about their story then the speaker becomes the listener which can feel really frustrating.

Even if the speaker is telling you a story that runs a parallel to your own story, you can never assume you know how they feel until they tell you.

If we only prescribe our own GLASSES for everyone with whom we interact we cannot be empathic. Often when a person has a problem communicating with a son, a daughter, a spouse, a partner, an employee, employer or client – their attitude is

“That person just does not understand me!”

Ask yourself have you understood what you have heard?