Often I find my brain chewing on a single thought – “What’s next?”. Deep thinking or meditating is something I occasionally engage in, but in all truth, I am more of a “doer” than a person that “think’s about doing”. In the past this has often resulted in disaster, as the mouth speaks before the brain has a chance to say “hold on there big guy”. In the age of email and internet, this can be catastrophic, as not only can you think something moronic, you can also broadcast it to the whole world and there really are no take backs.
As I age, I have found that this tendency is slowly diminishing. I tend to reread emails multiple times to ensure that what I am saying will not be misinterpreted. Misconstrued emails still occur with alarming frequency nonetheless, as many people (and I am not pointing any fingers!) will read only the first sentence and then jump to some silly conclusion, or not get the point of the email at all.
I have also drawn some conclusions about verbal interactions. The person that speaks the least, is generally the person that will have the highest probability of making their point. Also, that same “short talker” will get the most attention. The perception is that such a person MUST have something important to say, since they listened so thoughtfully to everyone else before speaking.
So for 2014, I have decided to keep my communications brief, interrupt people less, and to listen for at least twice as long as I speak. This may not last the night, because after all, it is New Year’s Eve.
