picture of a streetlight blinking red with a tall office building in the background

Stop Look and Listen

What do you do when you cross the road? You stop at the street corner, look both ways, and listen to your environment (or what your friend is saying as you cross the road). For me, when I cross, I have to pay attention to what the traffic is doing so I know when the light changes. After that, I know when and how to cross.

Stop Look and Listen is the philosophy that drives what I do in my business, from accessibility testing to coaching, and how I lead my personal life.

Here’s how it works:

  • Stop: Mentally or physically stop to take notes
  • Look: Mentally or physically take a look around you
  • Listen: Make the subconscious into the conscious, based upon what you learned during “stop” and “look”
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    It’s always valuable to pause, look around, assess your choices, and decide what you want to do next. Stop Look and Listen allows you to listen to internal and external signs prior to taking action. It can guide you and tell you what road to cross – literally or figuratively.

    What Does it Mean to Listen?

    Listen is the crux of Stop Look and Listen. Listening is different than simply hearing, and involves making a decision or action based upon the information you have.

    The majority of people express themselves vocally, so listening can reveal a lot. The tone of voice can tell you a good deal and can be analyzed in the same way music can. Having worked in the coaching space for years – and having been trained as a musicologist – I am attuned to listening to tone. For me, picking up little nuances of speech is where listening gets fun!

    3 Levels of Listening

    There are 3 levels of listening, as shared by the Coaches Training Institute. These help illustrate what the third part of the philosophy is all about.

  • Level 1: The focus is on me – What is in my head? What am I thinking about?
  • Level 2: The focus is on the other person – What is in the client’s head? What are they thinking about?
  • Level 3: The focus is on the energy – What is happening internally and externally globally? What is the energy around you?
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    Stop Look and Listen doesn’t only guide my business, but my life. I “practice what I preach” and know from personal experience how powerful following Stop Look and Listen can be.

    Do you want to learn more about Stop Look and Listen? Are you interested in Stop Look and Listen Coaching? Book a session with me now.