# Strengthening your focuser and listener By:: [[Steven Denman]] 2023-06-29 There is much written on the importance of active listening, remaining curious and open-minded, empathy, mindfulness, and learning (deep learning, deep work, ultra learning, etc.). Following six different people's checklist guides for developing these various areas feels like following six different full-body workout plans. Everyone attempts to develop the same fundamental muscles with often unimportant structural variations. The underlying muscles of these areas are mental focus, curiosity, and the motivation to understand (both the nature and the applications). Strengthening these pays off in a broader set of applications: - Personal connection - To focus on someone with open curiosity to understand them is what everyone wants! Understanding their nature would look like an interest in inner workings, and understanding their applications would look like an interest in individual experiences. (sounds like a blossoming friendship to me) - Research - To focus on a topic with curiosity to understand is key to gaining useful knowledge - the nature of the topic categories and the applications bring practical knowledge. - Reading/Learning a skill. As it turns out, just like watching workout videos doesn't strengthen muscles, neither does reading about the importance of these areas lead to their strengthening. #### Related Items [[Listening]] [[Development]] [[Effort]] [[Knowledge]] [[Relationships]] [[Mindfulness]]