I had mentioned in a email that I would re-send out this email that I sent out back it 2018. Here it is in a blog post. I'm going to share a personal issue that I struggled with my entire life.
Somebody close to me told me I should write an email on listening when I first opened up the shop in 2015. After realizing they said that, I started thinking. It was likely because I was a horrible listener. I wasn’t listening to understand, but listening to reply. I thought I knew it all. When I look back I see how closed minded I was.
And of course back then I would tell them that they were wrong and what a great listener I am.
I was an idiot…… and a terrible listener. This person was 100% on point.
So, I started working on actively listening.
The most amazing things started happening. Someone gave me a book I read a week later by Dale Carnegie “How to win Friends and Influence people”. I now reread this book every year and so do all of the team members that have worked here at the shop. A lot of the book is about listening to really understand someone and their point of view. How quickly our relationships improve in ways we would never expect.
With our spouse, parents, kids, your co-workers, the list goes on.
And what I have started to notice is how terrible at listening most of us are. And how our modern life is definitely not conducive to really listening to each other.
Social media pulls you one way, text messages, emails, and phones constantly ringing, or vibrating pull you another way….. If you have kids you probably feel like you have a second, third, or fourth job (more like an unpaid internship) as an Uber driver, or the many hats we wear for our brilliant little hyped munchkins.
My point is we are all crazy busy I get it, but when I made the effort to try to take the time to really listen to understand others point of view and perspective with an open heart and mind all of my relationships instantly started to improve and get more captivating.
Right now I want to challenge you to take my advice and listen. Truly listen to understand people and their perspective, not just to reply.
Thank you for reading,
Love your life
Josh & PFSN Team
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