Listening and really hearing what’s said

First Published 22 September 2022

How often do we really listen and hear what another person is saying to us?

Sometimes we are multi-tasking.  Perhaps we are waiting for a gap to give our opinion and thinking about what words we are going to use so are only half listening. Sometimes we are coming up with solutions or even trying to ‘fix’ whatever it is the other person is talking about.

I was on a call last week where they showed this video (it’s less than 2 mins and well worth a watch) – watch it and note what your first thoughts are:

I’m not going to lie – I did have a moment of ‘well you should just remove the nail’ myself.  

I’m going to guess that the thought at least went through your mind as you watched it too.

It takes practice to just listen and not provide solutions. 

Think back to the last time you just needed to get something off your chest.  When you didn’t want someone to tell you that you were in the wrong, or that you should do this or that or provide you with meme worthy quotes.  

If you do find yourself in a situation where you are listening to someone and want to go in to fix it mode, perhaps ask them if that’s what they want, or is it just someone to listen to them while they get something off their chest.  

Thankfully when working with clients I do switch to listen mode!  So, if you have stuff going on and you aren’t feeling heard, do book in for a session or an initial chat to see if we can work together to help you through whatever is going on for you right now.