Day 1- working on simply listening and not interrupting

So today my goal was to be someone who doesnt feel the need to butt into others conversations. I need to be able to let others talk and simply just listen.  I wanted to achieve a few different things by being able to do this and make it a part of how I communicate. 

   I really struggle with this concept- of simply listening. Ive always felt the need to add my two cents to others convos. Instead of simply listening, I feel like if I dont say something Im being singled out or ignored, which is the farthest from the truth. Ive gone as far as making things up to fit into others convos instead of simply saying, " oh wow how cool, Ive never done that." I pretend I have, which in turn then makes me a liar, all bc I felt the need to fit in. 

  My goal was to catch myself when I felt the need the interject and say something and stop myself and just be apart of the convo by listening. It is okay that I have nothing to contribute- I can learn new things from others that way. I hope to be able to gain respect from others by them noticing that Im willing to listen to their thoughts and stories as well, not just talk about myself. I also am hoping to learn how to not interrupt so much. I tend to cut people off and say my part when in most situations they havent even finished their thoughts before I started mine. 

   So today I tried to do these things and I was pleasantly suprised with the results. I made it a point when there were convos going on around me at work to simply listen and if I did have something of value to add, I would,  but I made sure it was not said until after their whole thought had been talked about. The conversation seemed to flow much better and my thoughts seemed to be much more valued and received well. There was also a few times when my husband was talking and was trying to talk to me about different topics and I made sure to try and let him finish ALL that he was trying to say before I interjected, which I struggle with most in our marriage. I struggle with not letting him finish thoughts and just assuming I know what hes going to say and then lots of times taking offense to it without even knowing fully what he was going to say. I also struggle with not listening to what hes saying and just making sure I know what Im going to say next, which makes no sense bc if Im so worried about what Im going to say next then Im not listening to what hes even saying, which causes many communicational issues. So that was one of my main goals in trying to do this- I felt like we communicated much better and like I heard what he wanted to say much clearer and I understood him better.

  This is something that I need to work on everyday and I think being more aware of it makes it much easier to pinpoint and stop it from happening so often. I do think I will be successful in making this become second nature, but it will require practice and Im sure Ill have slip ups, but Im proud of being able to successfully be aware and be able to change it. Thanks for listening guys!! Stay tuned for more. 

  Tomorrow I will be focusing on not using body language and passive aggressiveness to express myself. I need to be finding other ways to express my anger/ frustrations and my goal tomorrow and to find out how to better express myself and to make sure its not being expressed in unproductive ways. 

Until next time........buh buh buh bye folks!