Listen more, talk less...

i’m having a hard time on this one.
how the hell am i gonna do this?
i must figure it out.
soon!!

well… not even close to achieving this goal :/
During the lunches I am always the last to finish because I talk all the time. I am not sure this can be cured.

I have been trying to be concious of when I attempt to interrupt or talk-over others. I am realizing that I do this a lot- and it is not good! I am trying catch it before I do it and just sit back and actually listen to others talk instead of impatiently wait at my turn to blab. It’s amazing how much better conversation can be if you actively listen!

To listen more and talk less I guess I need to realize there is someone more important than me. I need to realize that if my spouse, say, were to communicate the way I do (interrupt, talk a LOT) I’d be so irritated I’d want to scream! I bet he would fall over backwards if I shut my mouth and opened my ears more!! I am going to try.

For me this is the hardest one! I talk way to much! I am learning to bite my tongue more and let other people get a word in, which is a start I guess!

I’m always excited about things i’ve just learnt and about my ideas. So I want to share them, especially if I’m with my close friends! But at the evening of that day, I feel myself so talkative and I have a throat ache. After that of course the regret comes:/

and it is so essential to being a good friend or to encouraging friendships…. I must must must work on this as I am always running my mouth….

Layla7—I totally can relate to you on this! Everything you said is exactly what I find myself doing alot.
hedfones—I wish I could be up to where you are right now!

But at least we are becoming self-aware about this! That’s the first step in listening more…
I think to really be able to listen and talk less, I have to be less excited about the things I have to say. Usually I think I have the BEST things to say, so I can’t wait to get them out!! I have to focus on what others say, and try to be excited about that. That will make the OTHER person feel really good, and also they will see me in a better light… I think I will put sticky notes around the house—“Don’t be so quick to share my ideas!! LISTEN LISTEN because others have just as great things to say.”

The majority of people that open their mouths often tend to close their ears when they do it. The more you listen to other people the more informed your are about the world around you and the better person you’ll be. Over the past 5 years I’ve learned to slowly ratchet down the amount of blabbering I do and I’m grateful.

I just had a big lesson in this today. I think it knocked some sense into my head about why I need to do this.