Listening, principle 2: Be open

Covey (The Speed of Trust, 2006, p. 208ff) gives three principles behind Listen First: understanding, respect, and mutual benefit. I've added two more: hearing, being fully present in the conversation, and being open. Last time I talked about being fully present in the conversation. This one is be open

You have to be willing to accept what others in the bring to you. If your stuck on something, or determined only to do one thing, then all the listening in the world will not help you.

Be open to new ways of thinking and behaving. They might be better than your own. They can help you, you only have to be willing to entertain the notions seriously. Do it, and it can change your life in (good) ways you never dreamed possible. You don't have to follow to the end every idea you hear.

I did so with real estate. I did so with social network theory. I did so with social media and blogging and so forth. If I hadn't been open to new ideas, I would be a far different, and lesser, a person than I am now.

My goal here is to help entrepreneurs climb all the way to the top. How am I doing?

Entrepreneurship is the life's blood of all my professional activities. It makes them go. It informs my connection strategy.

It makes Sherpa Real Estate , my real estate referral business, go. See www.yourstopforrealestate.blogspot.com.

It powers my Sherpa Literary. Go to www.timswritingblog.blogspot.com for my ideas on writing and publishing and read my mystery for free at wwww.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot.com or buy it from Amazon.com more cheaply than you can print it out.

It fuels my publishing enterprise, By and for Writersgo. See www.byandforwriters.blogspot.com where you can get a poem or a short story published.Dey