The key to success

Communicating is a key life skill and is crucial to success.

The most fundamental part of communicating is listening, and I propose that the two most important parts of listening are listening to others and listening to ourselves.

There are two types of listening to ourselves.

A lot of us are great at listening to ourselves the first way but unfortunately it's often at the expense of others who we're pretending to listen to.

Most of the time we're so busy rushing to keep up with all the things we have to do, that even when we're supposedly listening to others we're wishing they would hurry up, thinking about what we could be doing if we weren't listening to them, or judging what they've just said, imposing our view of the world instead of being interested in theirs.

The second type of listening to ourselves is when we step away from the hurly burly of all the things that we have to think about and do, and really get a chance to listen to our own inner wisdom.

I know more and more people are realising the importance of doing this, and this is why you're probably hearing more and more about meditation and mindfulness these days.

But for me personally, the best way I've found to do this is by going on my daily run. When I'm running, my busy mind goes to sleep and my imagination is released. It's a time where I discover new ideas and new solutions and approaches to existing problems.

The added bonus is that when I give myself the gift of really listening to me, and not while I'm also trying to listen to others, I'm also able to listen to, and really hear, others.

If listening is fundamental to communicating, and communicating is key to success, which I know they both are, how can you not make time to switch off, and really listen to yourself.

And if you want my advice, why not go out for a run.