Listen

Listen - This can be a tough one.  It’s something I’m personally working on and it’s the most important thing I’m working on.  The other day I sat down with an old college football teammate and had lunch.  We talked about our time on the field, our families, business and more.  It was great and my focus was listening as much as possible.  We all like to talk so it can be difficult to listen.  To really listen is even more challenging.  Listening however, really listening and letting what we hear sink in before responding can seem slow or drawn out, maybe even unnecessary.  It’s not.  I heard Chuck Swindoll say one time that we should wait three full seconds before responding to give ourselves time to listen and be thoughtful in our response.  Try it sometime.  You’ll probably get a funny look from the person you’re listening to.  But, you’ll also truly hear what they have to say and your response will probably mean more.  I used to have managers tell me that I needed to respond quicker during sales appointments.  Unfortunately I listened to them and sped up many of my sales meetings costing me money and my potential clients the opportunity to improve their fitness.  I will never tell someone they need to speed up their response.  Maybe they're just listening.  Listen.
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I help business executives turn healthy habits into daily rhythms using organization, insight and accountability.  Visit Executive Fitness at relentlesscourage.co and contact me from there if you are interested in learning more.