Are They Even Listening? Part 1 of the 5 Steps to Mastery

Dinner with a New Date
Without being too obvious, I'd successfully checked out my suspicions. My brand new strategy had worked and my inner smile was vast!

I was enjoying dinner with a new date and she seemed to be listening politely. But was she more interested in talking rather than hearing what I was saying? It wouldn't change my life, but I was excited, this was my first opportunity to use a new technique that I'd only just read about. So I said, "But enough of me talking about me, why don't you talk about me for a change."

As expected, she didn't hear my exact words. She smiled and proceeded to tell me all about her. I was immensely amused.

Is he Listening?
Have you ever tried to explain something but the other person is just not listening? It may be immensely valuable, such as a step to mastery which could change his life, and he's just waiting for you to stop talking so he can speak.

He may even be planning what he is going to say as you're speaking, and hence doesn't even hear your information. He's ignoring a fundamental secret of success: to be willing to listen.

He may be hearing you, but doesn't think he needs to listen since he already knows. But without taking in your words how can he know? Ignorance is the result of hearing someone speak, but being unwilling to listen to what they say.

So when it comes time to act on what you've said, he won't act. He can't act because he's ignoring the first step to mastery, he hasn't listened to what you have to say.

Is she Impatient or Rude?
Sometimes she may not even be willing for you to finish speaking. She interrupts you so she can talk, thereby proving she's totally uninterested in hearing you out. Her self sabotage makes her impatient, or rude. She doesn't know what you're trying to contribute, yet you're not allowed to finish your words.

Or maybe she's heard what you have to say before, and assumes you're just regurgitating your previous information without adding anything new.

Even if she's heard it before, and thinks she know what you're going to say, you may be sharing crucial new insights. But how can she know if you're sharing a vital secret of success without letting you finish?

Don't just Hear - Listen
When you hear something, your ears register the sound, but are you prepared to give it any time and effort? The first secret of success in the 5 steps to mastery is to be willing to invest the tiny amount of energy needed to listen!

© Copyright worldwide Cris Baker, www.LifeStrategies.net All rights reserved. Republishing welcomed under Creative Commons noncommercial no derivatives license preserving all links intact, so please +1 and share this widely!

Food for Thought
"The branches of your intelligence grow new leaves in the wind of listening."

- Jalal ad-Din Rumi, 1207-1273, 13th-century Persian poet, jurist, Sufi mystic, described as the "most popular poet in America" in 2007