Feedback – are you listening to it?

It doesn’t matter who you are or what you do in your life, you get constant feedback from the Universe around you. People you live and work with, your children, your body, your mind and your thoughts… It’s all a source of feedback, both positive and negative. But…

Are you listening?

Every company wishing to sell their product and having (at least some) satisfied clients from time to time prepares a survey or some other form or collecting information about the quality and the satisfaction levels their product brings to customers. In modern world we are like that every single day.

We want to ‘sell ourselves’ as many different service providers – as loving partners, great parents, awesome employees, wonderful entrepreneurs and many, many more. And we often receive feedback even when we don’t ask for it.

We receive so much information as a result of our actions, decisions and behaviour that it might be overwhelming. Every single day could fill in a nice, thick booklet (or a few hundred pages novel in some situations) entitled – My Daily Feedback Source. Some of it is positive, some of it is negative, some is constructive, some – not so much.

Lessons hidden in our sight.

When we wonder what is not working or why it isn’t, we have it all in our disposal. But more often than not we tend to ignore what’s in front of us. Which doesn’t always benefit us in any way. I mean – of course, we don’t have to believe everything people say or even care (especially when we’re dealing with typical naysayers), but ignoring it altogether might keep us stuck in a space we don’t necessarily want to stay.

Everything that happens in reaction to our lives is a source of very valuable lessons which we can take and make our own. We can learn from this, we can grow, we can understand the reasons behind it. Ignoring it is not the wisest move.

Why am I talking about it?

I’ve worked with many people and in different fields – teaching, web-design, coaching – and it seems that no matter the situation or context, someone always shows up, who is willing to ignore the well-wishers or simply people with a bit more experience who he or she asked for opinion/advice/support. Even this week I was dealing with a person like that – who came to a company I work with for knowledge and expertise, pays for it and yet decides to ignore all that he receives.

I usually decide to let such people go and not pay much attention to them, because I understand that they have the right to do whatever they want with their time and money. This time, however, it made me wonder…

Am I doing the same thing in some part of my life?
Using resources to learn and ignoring the knowledge being shared and the feedback I’m given?
Is there something I can or need learn from the experience?

While pondering over that, I decided to ask you the same questions, as it may come in handy and remind you of a valuable source of information. So I’m asking you to take a look at your life and spend a few minutes answering these:

Do you listen to the feedback you receive? What can it teach you?

Feel free to share your comments, opinions and feedback

*Image used – courtesy of Ohmega1982 at FreeDigitalPhotos.net