If You're Speaking, You're Not Listening

I received a very valuable advice today.

"If you're speaking, you're not listening."

That is so true. And that is so deep.

We live in a world where talking and giving opinion are a must-have skill to survive in this world. We tweet, post, and loudly voice out our truths. The longer we talk, the more we feel important. The world is so loud and noisy, that we forget to give people chance to voice out their feelings too.

So now I learn to be more quiet. To hush up. To just listen. To observe, watch, and listen. The expert says, the less we talk, the more we are in control in the conversation. He who speak more, lose the flow of the conversation.

Let's use the Pareto law. Instead of incessant talk, let's do more listening. 80% listening, 20% talking. The more we listen, the more we understand the context. The more we understand, the more we can relate to the situation. The more knowledge we gain. The more info we absorbed. And information aka knowledge is power. It's the 21st century version of power. Not money, not resources, but knowledge. And the only way we gain knowledge is by reading, listening, and absorbing the info.

So I want to be better at this thing.

80% listening, 20% talking.
80% reading, 20% writing.
80% observing, 20% in action.
80% learning, 20% teaching.
80% watching, 20% showing.

I want to listen, so I can talk better. If I just talk talk talk endlessly, what's the point? I'll lose my audience's interest and I learn nothing. I gain nothing. So it is for my own benefit if I listen more.

I'm listening. And I'm not speaking.