We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak
– Epictetus, Greek Philosopher, c. AD 55-135
Would you please stop what you’re doing and just listen for a minute?
This isn’t because we’re having an argument, but because we’re trying to have a conversation, a brainstorming session, a discussion, a…
If you’d just take a minute and listen a bit more often, you’d be surprised at how many great ideas you can get from your friends and colleagues; you’d be amazed at how many problems and issues others can help you solve; you’d be floored at how many of those shitty tasks and projects would be done much quicker with the power of others, talking with them, asking for help, chit-chatting on possible directions…progressing to a solution.
Whether it is as simple as just releasing our ego, or simply letting go to grow, it is by listening to the surroundings that can help us arrive at educated decisions, utilizing someone else’s creative mind and thought and experience, and achieving the goal faster, better, and stronger by just listening to what others have to say.
We hold ourselves back so much by thinking we know it all, or being afraid to ask a ‘dumb’ question, or shying away from asking a colleague to avoid ‘bothering’ them, or avoiding so because ‘we want to solve the problem on our own’.
Listen more often, speak to others, and be open to hearing different things, ideas, and directions.
It’s amazing what you things you’d hear.