Empowering your Habits Part 2 with Tracey Bosch

 

Conversing is a daily activity that forms part of everyday life, and it is an unavoidable habit that we naturally find ourselves doing. However, former professional football player Shannon Sharpe once said, “Never mistake habit for hard work.” Why is that?

 

When we repeatedly do something, we may feel satisfied by the predetermined results. However, we need to be cautious because we could be doing something wrong without realising it, which could have devastating consequences.

 

Though we need not fear, Tracey Bosch, on the 12th of October, embarked on the second segment of Empowering your habits when communicating. On this occasion, she centred her discussion on listening and identifying signs when communicating. Here are a few highlights of the webinar:

 

Often, when someone speaks to us, we tend to do the following:

 

  • We pick up keywords and associate them with our circumstances.
  • We already answer the person without hearing the whole story.
  • We react to one word in the sentence.
  • We also tend to make judgements based on our standards.

 

To a fault, doing these things will affect our communication and, most importantly, the relationships we have. However, we need to be proactive. How? By being aware and through practice. 

 

It is impossible to change a bad habit when we are not aware of it and when we don’t improve to become the best version of ourselves. Therefore, the perfect aid in implementing these two aspects is by actively listening. Active listening is the ability to focus entirely on a speaker, understand their message, comprehend the information and respond thoughtfully.

 

It would be reasonable to ourselves: How can I practically implement such advice? 

We can do it by:

  • paying attention.
  • Showing that you’re listening.
  • Providing feedback.
  • Deferring judgement.
  • Responding appropriately.

 

When we understand the importance of listening and identifying signs when communicating, we benefit ourselves and those around us. Therefore, engage in self-reflection every time because we will create good habits in our communication by doing that.

 

To listen to the entire webinar, you can go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wD4bIcazYpI&t=86s or find out more about ORT SA; go to www.ortsa.org.za.