Are you a good listener? I mean do you listen to others like they too are a masterpiece? To truly live life fully as a masterpiece you need to develop great listening skills on your Life Palette. With great listening skills you will not only make those you are conversing with have more of a sense of being a masterpiece but you will also gather new creative ideas. Great listening skills enable you to be able to see empathetically through the eyes of the other person while at the same time being able to maintain your own perspective.
We live in a day and time where we talk a lot about “multitasking”; we have grown to understand that concept and to live in it. That is what is happening with great listening skills. Not that you are multitasking about what you are going to do for dinner later that evening but that you are able to see their point of view with complete understanding at the same time maintaining your own perspective.
As you make great listening skills a part of your Life Palette you will be perceived by others as a masterpiece they will see you as:
· A person who genuinely cares about them and their circumstances.
After all they are talking about their favorite subject – themselves. You can draw more out about them that will help them learn more about themselves by simply continuing to ask questions. You may do very little talking and yet when they walk away from a conversation with you they are thinking “I sure do like them.” a better chance of discerning the truth of a matter.
· A person of wisdom.
If it is a situation where you need to make a decision, great listening skills on your Life Palette will give you more information for making a wise decision and how to navigate the transitions necessary to live them out.
· Someone who is not easily fooled.
To master truly great listening skills on your Life Palette is to see others as the masterpiece they are created to be and to value their thoughts and opinions, especially in areas of their strengths. Unless you develop this skill set you may often be taken in and fooled by the person who has absolutely no idea what they are talking about yet are very articulate and eloquent with words and speech. You may discover the greatest truths from those who are unable to communicate clearly the nuggets of truth that are deep within their soul.
· A great communicator.
Others will look forward to conversations with you and enjoy the relationship they have with you. You may be in a position of authority and rather than dreading the “boss” dropping in and checking up on them they will see it as a privilege because you are a great communicator, when the reality is that you are doing less communicating and more listening. In every relationship being perceived as a great communicator will add value to the relationship by allowing the other person to have the sense and security that they can talk with you about anything. And that always adds value toward having healthy relationships.
Next Steps For Good Listening Skills:
Commit to making sure that great listening skills are on your Life Palette make it a point today to truly listen to someone that you would not normally spend time listening to. For further growth in this area read Chapter 6 of my book Life Palette: Color Harmony.
