Listening is more than just hearing words; it's about understanding and connecting with others. Listening helps you empathize and see the world from others' viewpoints
Do you listen to understand or listen to answer? Think about it.
Stay tuned, stay compassionate and always be kind to yourself.
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Until next time, keep spreading the sunshine!"
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[00:00:00] Hello Sunshine, and how has your week been? You know we live in really unique times right now. We are constantly connected, we are constantly bombarded with information, we constantly feel the need to stay connected.
[00:00:26] If we do not look at our phones for a few seconds, we actually fear that we may be missing out on something. We are also exhausted with all of the information that we are getting at all times.
[00:00:39] We do not really have the time to connect with ourselves, so how do we make the time to connect with others? When was the last time all of us just disconnected? Just decided that we would not look at our phones,
[00:00:53] just decided that we would go out and meet our friend and have an actual conversation. We all are tired, that leads to all of us being exhausted because of which we do not go out, which means we get isolated, when we get isolated we get depressed,
[00:01:08] when we are depressed we just feel like we are losing all hope. We don't really go out and connect with people. And a great connection often starts with a great conversation. And one of the main ingredients of a great conversation is the ability to listen.
[00:01:25] It's the need to take the time out to listen. One of the common things that most successful people have is that they do a lot more listening than talking. Now listening is a simple but an effective way to ensure good communication.
[00:01:41] It helps us close the communication gap and sometimes helps us get more clarity, helps us clear certain misunderstanding. Listening helps us slow down and helps us understand better. You know whenever a solution presents itself during the process of two people having a conversation,
[00:02:03] it's because they have cooperated to listen to each other. Ralph Nicoll said, The most basic of all human needs is the need to understand and be understood. And the best way to understand people is to listen to them. Now listening is the best gift you could give someone.
[00:02:23] You know it is an act of kindness, it's an act of generosity. It's because when you listen to someone, you share your time, your presence, your mind, your heart, your emotions, your feelings.
[00:02:36] And sometimes all it requires for you to do is just sit down and listen or maybe be listened too. When you're going through a time of challenge, listening might just be the thing that we need to rebalance a conversation and to develop a better ability to connect.
[00:02:57] It's not that we always need to keep talking when we have a conversation. Like Stephen Covey said, Most people do not listen with the intent to understand, they listen with the intent to reply.
[00:03:11] And when we really listen, we improve our ability to influence as well as avoid any misunderstanding. Listening helps us to also connect with others and therefore it improves the quality of our relationship.
[00:03:26] You know to be present, to put your focus on the person that was talking to you, take note of their tone and their voice and their body language. Tune in to them completely. And this is one of the most important parts of communication isn't it?
[00:03:42] Even listening or hearing what is it said. And it's so important today because sometimes when we go out, let's be honest, we always have our one eye on our phone or on our laptop. Making the person sitting in front of us feel like he doesn't matter,
[00:03:58] like what he says doesn't matter, like what he's saying is not relevant. And that's when listening in completely plays such an important role. Listening without prejudices, without any judgements, without any biases can also be a huge gift. When we show up and listen it encourages respect and understanding.
[00:04:19] To say that a person feels listened to means a lot more than just their ideas getting heard. It's a sign of respect and it makes people feel valued. I read this quote somewhere and I'd like to leave you with this quote for this week.
[00:04:34] Have a great week everyone. And let's just promise to be there even if it's just to listen. In fact, if we listen it makes the communication that much more better. We'll speak to you again next week. Take good care of yourselves. Bye for now.