Opinions

News
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Instead of sharing a quote and my thoughts this week, I've decided to share a story from Paulo Coelho.

Story
In a kingdom of Arabia lived a queen called Layla. Her wisdom illuminated the land like the sun, her beauty blinded men, and her wealth was greater than any of her subjects.

One morning, her chief advisor asked to see her, and said:
"Great queen Layla! You are the wisest, most beautiful and wealthiest women in the world. But I have heard unpleasant things; some people laugh at or complain about your decisions. Why, in spite of all you have done for your subjects, are they still not content?"

The queen laughed and replied:

"Loyal advisor, you know how much I have done for my kingdom. Seven regions are under my control, and all of them have enjoyed peace and prosperity. In all the towns, the decisions of my court are just and inspired.

"I can do almost everything I wish. I can order the frontiers to be closed, the gates of the palace to be locked, the treasury coffers sealed indefinitely.

"But there is one thing I cannot do: make the people shut their mouths. It matters not what false things people say; the important thing is to continue to do that which I consider to be true."

Listening

News
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Quote
“A wise old owl sat on an oak; The more he saw the less he spoke; The less he spoke the more he heard; Why aren't we like that wise old bird?”

My Thoughts
Listening is a critical skill to develop for any relationship. Becoming better listeners will help us in all areas of our lives. Most people struggle with listening. Instead of listening many people are merely thinking about what they are going to say while the other person is talking. This leads to miscommunication, disagreements, and arguments.

I'll share a story about how this can affect business relationships.

This past weekend I met some friends at a bar called Prost. I won't go into all the details of what happened, however the main problem here was listening. Basically we asked the staff for something, but they didn't appear to listen. So we talked with one manager and she didn't really seem to listen either. We then talked with another manager and he also didn't listen. In the end what we requested wasn't fulfilled which actually wasn't the problem. The problem was in the handling of the request. No one could explain why things were handled as they were.

So what was the outcome?

Well now myself nor anyone close to me will go back to Prost (something similar had happened there before but it wasn't as bad). The situation could have been avoided if one person out of the five we talked with had stopped and listened. Will that hurt their business? Maybe not right away, but if it continues to happen it will certainly cause a loss in customers.

I encourage you to be a better listener this week. When someone is talking try to not have any thoughts, just focus on what they are saying.

Have an amazing week.

True Listening

News
No new updates for this week.

Quote
"Perfect health, sincerity, honesty, straightforwardness, courage, disinterestedness, unselfishness, patience, endurance, perseverance, peace, calm, self control are all things that are taught infinitely better by example than by beautiful speeches"
-Sri Aurobindo

My Thoughts
Many people have opinions on almost every subject and are willing to share those opinions with anyone they meet. Oftentimes people have opinions on things that they have little or no experience with. Don't get me wrong sitting around and having deep discussions or positive conversations can be great, but I believe developing listening skills is far more important.

Most people don't really listen. True listening is when you listen without forming any thought as to what your response will be. Many people appear to listen but the whole time they are just waiting for their turn to talk. True listening takes practice, but it can be developed over time.

Becoming a true listener can help you connect with humanity more as well because now you are actually listening to what the other person is saying. Usually people judge the other person (and/or what the other person is saying) almost immediately and then start forming their reply. So by truly listening you will start to have less judgments.

I didn't become a better listener until about three years ago. I am much better now than I was before, but of course I can still develop my listening skills further.

This all ties in with the idea of changing yourself before trying to change the world. If you want people to be more kind, first you must be more kind. If you want people to do more, first you must do more. If you want peace, first you must start bringing peace to where you are.

I suggest that this week that you try to truly listen to someone.

Have a great Chuseok.