We all know the conversations where we can tell the other person is listening to us but they’re not really hearing us. Isn’t it ridiculously frustrating when you are trying to get a point across and you can tell the other person is just waiting for their turn to talk? The problem that I have experienced however, is that we all do this! I can tell you with absolute certainty that your relationships would instantaneously improve if you would commit to really hearing people and not just listening to them.

How do you like to be heard? You want somebody to really engage not only intellectually with you but emotionally as well. You want to feel like the person you are talking to is really connecting with you. We all want this from others but so few of us are willing to do it. This is where we just need to step up.

What if each one of us just decided to really hear people for a week? That we would put our own thoughts and opinions on the back burner and decide to really engage. When people talk to you this week, focus completely on what they’re saying. We will find the quality of our connections skyrocket. We all know how frustrating it is when we are speaking and the other person is just waiting for their turn to talk. Gandhi said that we should “Be the change we want to see in the world.” In this arena we all ought to follow his advice. If we do then we may find others really hearing us out as well.