Listen & Learn
Pay attention to your behavior next time someone is talking to you. Are you actively listening? Or are you waiting for them to finish talking so you can say what you’re thinking? Don’t feel bad, it is really common for people to just be waiting to get some words out instead of engaging in what is being said to them. Now that you’re aware of it, you can start to work on being more “in the moment” during conversations, lectures, and any type of communication.
Nowadays human interaction is very different than it used to be, with all the technology that is constantly at our fingertips. People are so quick to be consumed in social media or anything on their phone before they will be fully engaged in a face-to-face conversation. Social skills are lacking more than ever, especially in young people as they are being raised by iPads instead of attentive parents. Because of the infrequency in human interaction, people no longer know how to converse in the most respectful, appropriate way. These skills are diminishing further across the globe and will continue to, which is why you need to become more capable of listening instead of anticipating your time to speak.
Being listened to is a necessity for human development in regards to confidence and everyday needs. If you are speaking to someone and they are obviously not paying attention to anything you have to say, it is a huge blow to your self-esteem. When you’re telling someone about a topic you are passionate about, you want to be heard and valued. Otherwise, it is easy to feel like your opinion and interests don’t matter, which is not true. Keep this in mind when other people are talking to you, too, don’t be the person that is downplaying someone’s worth.
Aside from this, listening to what other people have to say can expose you to new perspectives that can lead to revising your previous opinion / beliefs or at the very least a new outlook on any given topic. You can learn so much from other people’s passions, things that you may not know anything about could potentially be a huge part of someone’s life and engaging in conversation with them can suggest new interests to you. Meaningful discussions while keeping an open mind can result in all kinds of new-found knowledge.
Attentiveness during conversation is also a sign of being present in the moment. So often, people are doing one thing but their mind is in a completely different zone. If your brain is not where your body is, you are living in the future rather than the present. This is a perfect route to an anxiety-filled life. People who are constantly thinking about the next thing they have to do and never acknowledging the activity they are participating in at that moment will ultimately be unfulfilled because they never take a second to appreciate what they are doing. There are many ways to stay present in the moment aside from during conversation, but this is one simple way.
Put the phone down, push your invading thoughts out of the way for a second and just pay attention. Have a real conversation, move past the worthless small talk. Be curious, be respectful, be present.
