100 Ways To Motivate Yourself, Third Edition

28. Try interactive listening

The principle of using interactivity as a creativity-builder is not restricted to computer games or chat rooms. Once we become fully conscious of this principle, we can find ways to become more interactive everywhere. We can even make conversations with our family and friends more interactive than they once were.

We all have certain business associates or family members who, as they speak to us, we have a feeling that we already know what they’re going to say. This lowers our own consciousness level, and a form of mental laziness sets in. Whereas in the past we might have just passively suffered through other people’s monologues, we can now begin introducing more interactivity. In the past we might have punctuated ...