Conscious listening will transform your life. It is the most important recreation in developing and maintaining meaningful relationships. Improved listening skills will enhance your communication with family, friends, and in business. We will discuss two powerful principles that comprise conscious listening. The first is listening from not knowing, and the second is listening with the intent of giving others the impression that you have heard and understood them. To understand conscious listening, we must explore our current habit of listening from knowing.

Listening From Knowing (Old Habit)

When you are around a person for a long time, you tend to listen to them from knowing. You know how they are, what they are thinking and what they will say next.  Couples who have been together for a long time will finish each other’s sentences. This type of relating leaves no space for anything new. It is a subconscious form of judgment that creates the same recurrent patterns and interactions that turn into boredom and frustration.