listen with the intent to understand

welcome to introspection ft. harsehaj! ⭐️ i’m harsehaj, a 19 y/o always up to something in social good x tech.

this publication is a place for me to reflect on productivity, health and tech, and drop unique opportunities in the space right to your inbox daily. if you’re new here, sign up to tune in!💌

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onto today’s topic: listen with the intent to understand 👂️ 

when you’re having a conversation with someone else, how often are you preparing a response instead of actually understanding what the other person is saying?

it’s a hard thing to do but i make an effort to check myself in conversations and it has helped me be a lot more present with my loved ones. interestingly enough, it has also made my conversations seem less like debates and more akin to building ideas or thoughts together. 💡 

unfortunately, a lot of us are not very good listeners even if we tell ourselves otherwise. accepting moments of silence in conversations is one of the best ways to improve upon this and it’s something i’m working on as well. conversations don’t need to be a quick-paced interaction with absolutely no pauses — that can even become exhausting and build a sense of awkwardness when it suddenly becomes silent.

silence can be very comfortable and taking time to actually think of a meaningful response is completely okay, and should be encouraged.

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