Magic Words for Earning Attention
Being a good listener is one of the most important and enchanting life skills anyone can have. Yet few of us know how to do it, not because we are evil but because no one has taught us how and – a related point – few have listened sufficiently well to us. So we come to social life greedy to speak rather than listen, hungry to meet others but reluct
... See moreAlain De Botton • The School of Life: An Emotional Education
Hearing is passive. Listening is active. The best listeners focus their attention and recruit other senses to the effort. Their brains work hard to process all that incoming information and find meaning, which opens the door to creativity, empathy, insight, and knowledge. Understanding is the goal of listening, and it takes effort.
Kate Murphy • You're Not Listening
“Attention isn't free. It's the most valuable thing you spend.”
Brain Food: Experts vs. Imitators
Poet Yahia Lababidi on the power of listening:
“A good listener is one who helps us overhear ourselves.”
“A good listener is one who helps us overhear ourselves.”
James Clear • 3-2-1: Opportunity Cost, Power of Listening, and the Stories We Tell Ourselves | James Clear
Subtle shifts in language can sometimes have surprising consequences. The language of attention seems particularly loaded with economic and value-oriented metaphors, such as when we speak of paying attention or imagine our attention as a scarce resource we must either waste or horde. However, to my ears, the related language of attending to the wor... See more