Why Listening Should Be Apart of Your 2019 Goals

In the age of social media, listening has become a lost art of everyday life. People are more concerned about getting their point across and being right they forget to listen. With cell phones and texting coming into play, listening is being clouded by people’s perceptions and interpretations. Listening is much more than hearing. Listening helps open your mind. Listening can help you learn, gain a new perceptive, and even help you love better.

Aside from the practical benefits, being a good listener is important for the quality of your social life. What kind of relationship would you have with someone who talks all the time and never listens to you? No real relationship at all. There is reciprocation in the communications involved in any good relationship – a “back and forth,” a mutual exchange. If you’re talking all the time and you don’t listen you can’t know how the other person is feeling and this has lead to many failed relationships.

Finally, listening to others, and listening well, is important for your personal development because it allows you to expand your horizon. We learn from what others have to say. We each have a world of our own, filled with our thoughts, ideas, opinions, values, experiences and perspectives. Collectively, these make up our horizon. One of the best ways to expand that horizon is by listening.