Listening is an art form, yet all of us suck at it.

Some people suck less than others, but we all suck at it because we simply don’t care or give a damn. We’re either too consumed with ourselves or don’t want to put in the necessary effort to be a good active listener for each and every interaction we have over the course of a day.

This episode examines why we’re all so terrible at listening and what two things we can do to improve.

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QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY: On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your listening skills? Please let me know in the comments.

Scroll below for links and show notes…

Selected Links from the Episode

• Visit us on Facebook
• 7 Steps to Prove That You Are Listening by Fred Kofman
• 7 Reasons People Aren’t Listening to You by Deepak Chopra
• How to Be a Chief Listening Officer by John Ryan
• Previous episode about Self Awareness
• The Art of Listening by Erich Fromm
• Ladies Talk Too Much by Chris Rock
• Getting carpel tunnel, or text claw, from texting
• What is Forward Head Posture and how can you fix it?
• NY Times health guide on Dorsocervical fat pad
• CBS News article on Phantom Vibration Syndrome
• The Portland Cello Project
• Being in the moment by Zen Habits
• No Post Is Worth It by AT&T
• Look Up by Gary Turk

Show Notes

• Listening has been a personal passion over the past several years [02:20]
• You can make a living by teaching people how to listen  [02:47]
• Truth serum — We all suck at listening [03:25]
• Why do we suck at listening? [04:55]
• We’re too consumed with ourselves [05:22]
• Listening takes effort — It’s hard! [06:52]
• Chris Rock and his comedy bit on Communication with Women [10:28]
• How my sister Lindsey helped me realize I sucked at listening [13:30]
• We’re always on our damn phones [16:07]
• Being unplugged [16:51]
• The effects that our phones are having on us [18:05]
• How can we be a better listener? [22:40]
• Being authentic is the first thing we can do to be a better listener [23:29]
• The second thing we can do to be a better listener is being present in the moment [26:39]
• Jesse’s rule for helping himself to be present in the moment [29:43]
• Outside examples that help showcase being in the moment [31:28]

People Mentioned

• Fran Liebman
• Fred Kofman
• Deepak Chopra
• John Ryan
• Matt Harvey
• Chris Rock
• Lindsey Liebman Sweet
• Gary Turk