Every person speaking to us is an opportunity to learn. If not explicitly, we learn to listen.
Photo by Andrea Tummons at Unsplash.com
One of my main difficulties was listening to others. While someone was speaking to me, my mind was a storm of ideas about what she was saying. I would easily interrupt others and began speaking instead of listening. Often, my closest friends would say I should listen more and better. They were right.
The moment you empty yourself from any thoughts to actually listen to someone else, a world of possibilities opens in front of you.
The other is a world to discover in front of me. If I learn to listen, I develop one of the greatest learnabilities of today.
The learnability to pay attention.
And this is valid regardless of whether the other is boring or not.
“When you pay attention to boredom it gets unbelievably interesting.” (Jon Kabat-Zinn, educator)
Seize every listening opportunity today and make it one which makes you a better listener. It is one of the best ways of growing an attentive mindset and develop your learning mind.