When you need to focus on certain things, wouldn’t it be good to just sit in silence? Some people who have problems prefer to be alone so they can concentrate on the issues that bother them.
When there are fewer distractions, you can easily focus on the solutions to your problems. You can give yourself a chance to reflect and assess the things that are troubling you. Silence allows us to refuel our minds so we will have the ability to explore and evaluate the things that bother us.
We can also regain our focus when there is less chatter. It is so easy to get distracted by technology doing unproductive things and instead of digging deeper into the problems that can bring us stress, we are looking for temporary diversions that do not even solve half of the problem. Silence can be used in many ways.
During an argument, instead of trying to prove your point, it is better to stay silent because you do not have to win an argument. It does nothing to improve the situation. The people you are trying to argue will just stop if they notice you are no longer arguing with them.
Silence is also a powerful tool during counseling and when counselors use silence correctly, it can also help family and friends of those who are counseled.
Counselors can also get information and hints when they prefer to listen to what the clients have to say instead of doing all the talking. When you stay silent and allow clients to talk or discuss their concerns, more and more people will come to you for help.
For busy people who also want to connect with the world, being silent is a great way to connect because it provides an avenue for discovering the best things in life.
3 Examples of when to use silence…
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1. During arguments
One of the best times to use the power of silence is during an argument is to stay silent. The ego will be trying to force its way out of you and finish the argument but you are the controller, not the ego. When someone is shouting at you, looking for an argument or just picking on you can literally take all the power away from them and keep all your energy by simply looking at them and saying absolutely nothing. This is extremely difficult to do but very powerful.
2. Gossiping
When there is a crowd of people in the workplace there are gossipers who speak about other people. The thing with gossiping is that it is contagious. When we don’t like someone and someone else starts speaking about them we naturally tend to voice our opinion, I’ve done it lots of times and have to stop myself.
Try and stop yourself from catching the virus of gossiping and use the power of silent whenever it occurs. If you are a gossiper yourself and people around start to notice that you are ‘not your usual self’, don’t give an explanation just leave saying you’ve got work to do or whatever, pretty soon you’ll be out of the gossiping loop.
3. When someone is talking
Silence is a great tool for counselors if used in the right way. It’s also great when listening to friends and family.
Just let people talk and listen to them and use your facial expressions and movements to acknowledge that you are listening. This can be a tough thing to do but silence is an extremely powerful for both you, as the listener and the talker.
You will find that as you practice this, more people come to talk to you as you will be known as a listener. Obviously there are times to speak during the conversation, however when you do, make sure it is to paraphrase what the talker is saying or asking questions to get more information, don’t make it about yourself.
When people want to know more about you they will ask you questions, this is the time to talk about yourself but always have the listener be part of the conversation.
Source: The Power of Silence
