Sharing Resources to Help You Grow Personally, Professionally & Financially

Sometimes it helps to get a little dose of encouragement—along with a good cup of coffee!—to start the day. Today we discuss "listen."

Hopefully the message below will help you get off to a good start for the week.  Please feel free to forward the newsletter on to others that you think would benefit from the content.

Listen

I like to read John Eldredge’s writings. He’s a Christian author who focuses on how men experience life. This past week I came across a piece of his that spoke about how to pray for guidance. He suggested four steps:

• Get rid of any self-imposed pressure as you begin the process.
• Be open to what God tells you.
• Don’t “fill in the blanks”; rather live with the uncertainty that is present as you seek God.
• Give it some time/don’t get in a hurry.

As is often the case, I thought he did a pretty good job of laying out a framework to follow. And then it hit me! This same framework is one that we can and should apply when we listen to others:

• Don’t go in with any expectations of what you’ll hear.
• Let them share fully what’s on their mind.
• Don’t fix things, just be there, even if it’s uncomfortable.
• Allow it to take the time it takes.

As usual, I had to then analyze what I’d seen and reflect on “how am I doing.” As is often the case, I realized that I was NOT doing as well as could/as well as I should. But that’s good news as it gives me plenty of opportunity to grow!

That brings us to this week’s question:

• Are you really listening to those in your life?

Thanks for sharing a bit of your time with me this Monday morning.  

Have a great week!

Blog post from this past week:

Monday Morning Motivation - Tension