When a friend or family member calls me and they want to talk about a problem or issue that’s bothering them, I offer three options.
One, I tell them I can listen and respond with what I’m really thinking.
Two, I can listen and just give them positive feedback.
And three, I can just listen.
The overwhelming number of people pick option three, and they just want to talk and have someone listen and hear them.
The two aspects of this that I wanted to share, are first that understanding at the beginning of a conversation what someone else is looking for can be super helpful for you in terms of what to attend to, what to pay attention to, or how to help them, based on what they’re saying.
But the second thing is that so many people are not looking for our advice or our opinion, but simply to be heard.
How powerful it is to have the focus, attention of another human being when you have something important to say.
The fact that we can provide that to another person, and that that is what they are looking for, is the part that to me that is so awesome.