Let's Talk About: Listening

Photo by C D-X on Unsplash

Listening.

Are we listening or merely talking during most of our interactions?

How much listening do we actually do in a day?

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Taking from the Ted article, The Lost Art of Listening:

Listening well is more than a matter of talking less. It’s a set of skills in asking and responding. It starts with showing more interest in other people’s interests, rather than in trying to judge their status or prove our own.

It's about active listening, and about wanting to understand more about what the person is saying. 

It's other-centered, rather than self-centered. 

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We’re all vulnerable to the “righting reflex,” — the desire to fix problems and offer answers, but a person who’s skilled in motivational interviewing resists the righting reflex. 

I admit that I usually default to listening in order to answer or to state my opinion about what the person is talking about.

I try to solve their problems for them.

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Yet, at times, people already know what to do. 

They just want a listening ear. 

In a world that is so saturated with information and opinions, we are fast becoming a world that is less empathetic and tolerant to others. 

.. Interacting with an empathetic, nonjudgmental, attentive listener made people less anxious and defensive. They felt less pressure to avoid contradictions in their thinking, which encouraged them to explore their opinions more deeply, recognize more nuances in them, and share them more openly.

We all just want to be heard.

We all just want to be heard.

Will you listen?

** Happy World Mental Health Day **

Resources

1. https://ideas.ted.com/the-lost-art-of-listening/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=linkedin.com&utm_content=2023-08-21&utm_campaign=social