I have to continuously work on my listening skills. I hear my husband say time and time again…”be a listener”. I have no idea where he obtained his listening skills, but the man is a solid listener. Now, in truth, he has “man-eyes” and can never find anything in the pantry or refrigerator. And for all I know perhaps that deficit contributes to the strength of his other senses. Unlike my dad, I have never had to ask him to pick up anything, or to complete any chores around the house. Once told, it’s done. Sometimes he will do it before being asked and it’s always done right. You need not worry about future reminders.

Listening is an asset that has served him well. He assesses financial and credit worthiness and is better at it than anyone I have ever known. He is well known for his skills in this area, and he will tell you it is because he is a listener. He will recall other details besides your portfolio. If you share things about your home life, family or pets he will recall them and he will remember all the details. He will more than likely ask you about them on your next visit. He has been told on more than one occasion that his voice is comforting and people often return time and again for his services.

Listening does not come natural to me at all. Once I recognized how incredibly gifted my husband is at it, I recognized my deficiencies and set about to work on them. Because it does not come natural, I remind myself to listen especially when meeting someone new. My natural instinct is to set about evaluating, profiling etc. Not for any other reason than that is how my brain is mapped. Once observing the power of listening though, I set about to do better. I am an easy listener with friends and family, but I work much harder now on my listening skills for everyone else. Everyone has so many stories. We can be enriched by getting to know as many people as possible. If you set about to clear your head of everything, and connect your eyes and listen, you will be so surprised at how much people want to share. Let them talk, and prepare no answers. In fact, if you are somewhat like me, then as an exercise do not allow yourself to answer because sometimes (again I reference myself) we set about our minds to take the first 2 or 3 sentences and begin working on our replies. I say this as I was a failed listener! I work every day at being better, and the rewards have been phenomenal.