【推荐2】When you are communication, you spend nearly 60% of your time listening to other people, but most people only remember 25% of what they hear.     1    

Be more present. When you are listening to someone, put everything else aside and give your full attention to the person. Make sure you keep eye contact with the person at all times.

    2     When you are listening to another person, try to think what they might be feeling or going through at that very moment. Sympathy for others can allow you to imagine yourself in the situation from the person's angle and see what you can learn from the discussion.

Ask more questions. Being a good listener doesn't just mean that you sit quietly and let the other person speak.     3     The more interested you are in what the person is saying, the better the conversation will be. The key is to let questions carry forward the conversation and to leave enough room for the person to continue talking.

Train your emotional intelligence. Your emotional intelligence influences your ability to listen to other people.     4     Learn to understand your own emotions, both negative and positive. Be aware of your reactions when you are listening to someone.

Make a note of the conversation.     5     You need to think about the key message of the discussion, and analyse what you and the other person have learned from it. So making an internal note of the conversation can help you further improve your listening as well as communication skills as a whole.

【推荐3】I know you probably don't realize it," Booth told her mother, "but you spend the first 20 to 30 minutes of every conversation complaining. " When her mother objected, the two agreed to start keeping a running timer. "When we sit down to talk, I'll bring a notebook," Booth says. "When she starts complaining, she will see me writing, catch herself, then stop. "     1     . But before long, it was clear that Booth's intervention not only helped her mother, it also helped their relationship. So, how do you get a chronic（长期的）complainer to realize the problem for the sake of your health and his?

Change the subject.     2     , some complainers will change their mood. If your neighbor is complaining about the phone company, tell him about an unexpected call you received from an old friend. If your coworker is complaining about your boss, ask whether he met the new employee.

    3     . When a chronic complainer tells you about his latest problem, ask nicely what he has done to improve it.

Summarize the complaint. If your complainer keeps repeating himself, he may stop if you show that you're listening.     4     .

Be honest. When you have things to do, tell the complainer that you must cut the conversation short.     5     . Rather than pointing a finger at the other person, focus on the effect it's having on you.

【推荐2】Influential people have a great impact on everyone they encounter. Yet, they achieve this only because they exercise so much influence from inside, on themselves. Their focused pursuit of excellence is driven by five habits that you can follow and absorb until your influence expands (扩大):

Influential people aren’t affected by the latest trend or by public opinion.     1     They’re more than willing to change their mind according to facts, but they aren’t influenced by what other people think, only by what they know.

Influential people do not react emotionally to different opinions.     2     They’re humble (谦逊的) enough to know that they don’t know everything and that someone else might see something they missed. And if that person is right, they accept the idea wholeheartedly because they care more about the result than being right.

Influential people don’t wait for things like new ideas and new technologies to find them; they seek those things out.     3     They see what’s coming because they intentionally look for it.

If someone criticizes an influential person for making a mistake, or if someone else makes a mistake, influential people don’t react immediately and emotionally. They wait. They think.     4     Influential people know how important relationships are, and they won’t let an emotional overreaction harm theirs.

    5     They believe in their power to achieve their dreams, and they believe others share that same power. They believe that nothing is out of reach.

【推荐3】There’s a reason why dogs are called man’s best friend. Dogs and cats make wonderful companions and provide many emotional and physical benefits.

The most obvious benefits of pet ownership are love and companionship. We feel especially secure with dogs and cats because of the unconditional love they provide.     1     Taking care of a dog or a cat can provide a sense of purpose and a feeling of being accepted.

    2     When you feel securely attached to this living being, there are biological brain effects that reduce stress response, so it may affect your breathing rate or blood pressure or anxiety level.

It’s not always easy caring for pets, however. Sometimes having them in the home poses safety threats for older adults. If you have problems with walking and stability and your pet can get under your feet or jump up and knock you over, then falls and broken bones are a real danger.     3     Animals carry all kinds of bacteria that can be transferred to humans. Dogs and cats can also cause allergic (过敏的) reactions in some pet owners.

Before getting a pet, consider if you’re physically and mentally able to care for it.     4     Do you have the energy and strength to feed it, play with it, and in the case of dogs, take it for daily walks? Do you have the financial means to pay for pet food and visits to the veterinarian (兽医)?

If you feel you have the mental, physical, and financial means to care for a pet, take the pet’s size into consideration — not too big and not too small. And consider the animal’s personality.     5