Don't just listen, listen

I understand how important it is to be curious. But when I get excited, I often find myself thinking about a thought or a question so intensely. Without realising. And then I remember, wait a second, there’s someone next to me engaging in a conversation with me. That’s not right. Even when we engage in conversation and most of the time, the conversations are amazing. I hear angles, new perspectives and new anecdotes that I’ve never even thought to imagine. Every single person in the world has lived different lives where probably only 0.00001% (I’m not a maths type) of our lives has some parallel. Think about it… Pick a random second in time. Say 25th of September 2022 (time of writing). And ask anyone you know what they were doing. I am willing to GUARANTEE there is difference. Now your life is made up of millions and millions and trillions of these moments. People ARE different. We all have our questions, unanswered questions. Sometimes it takes a different angle, just a bit of a stimulus to point us in a different direction. We should listen. If we are engaging in a conversation, we don’t need to be the protagonist. We don’t need to win in a conversation. From interviews to customer service conversations… We just need to converse. Detach and attach. Don’t just listen for the sake of listening. Don’t research ‘body language’, don’t pretend to think or say ‘I see’ when you don’t really care. Be genuine, listen, don’t just listen.