Forget About Being a Good Listener to Others — Do You Listen to Yourself?

Maybe you need to book a 1:1 consultation call with yourself every week.

We hear only what we want to hear, which is the cause of all bad communication.

Our beliefs are like outdated mobile network signals.

Most of our life decisions are based on what’s been fed into our subconscious mind while growing up — they grow up to become our beliefs.

Our beliefs are like Instagram filters to our communication — with others and with ourselves.

Recently, I met a childhood friend.

While growing up, I craved validation from my friends and family at every step.

Let’s say 15 years is a long time, and I’m not the same person.

I told him that I had quit my job and decided to live the life of a freelancer.

And I’m really enjoying this life, as I get to learn something new in every project I undertake.

He couldn’t understand that I was expressing my happiness about this shift and began explaining how freelance life is unstable and filled with financial insecurity and that I would suffer and put my family through a rough time.

Why was he telling me that?

I communicated I was earning pretty well, and the primary intention was not just money but to grow in the process.

That’s because he couldn’t fathom the fact that I was not asking for his approval.

I didn’t respond; I just agreed with his point and swiftly moved on to the next conversation.

Side Note — “He had quit his job to work on his startup idea. He couldn’t do it and found a new job in three months.”

“We do not see the world as it is. We see the word as we are.”- Anais Nin

This one is an innocuous anecdote. But we do this all the time. The worst part is that we do this with ourselves, too.

“It is the mark of an educated mind to entertain a thought without accepting it.”- Aristotle

It’s so important to keep our beliefs in check and constantly upgrade them. Heck, even our smartphone software is upgraded more frequently.

The point of this post is to talk about an observation I had lately -

“We project our insecurities in other people, especially, the ones close to us.”

In short, we are not having bad communication with others — we’re just ignoring much-needed communication with ourselves.

Spare some “me-time” for yourself — having clear communication with yourself will help you communicate clearly with others.

I’d love to read your thoughts and stories about how your beliefs affect your communication with others. Share your comments.

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