Day 37 out of 1095 in building ImP-Act, and today I want to share a crucial insight that can make or break your startup journey: the muscle of active listening.

Starting the day on the wrong foot, I struggled to get into gear. But after some exercises, meditation, a workout, and a banana, things started to look up. And amidst this, a powerful realization struck me – the immense importance of listening. It's the best way to truly understand the needs of your customers, partners, colleagues, and essentially anyone you have a relationship with. This holds especially true in business and startups.

Remember the pilot meeting that got canceled yesterday? Well, it happened today. And let me tell you, active listening and putting my ego aside allowed me to fine-tune our partner design experience.

As I shared about our product improvements and differentiation from competitors, I was fully present, learning whether this was just my dream or actually connected to our startup's ideal customer.

So, if you have another busy day ahead kick-starting your startup or working on its growth, here are some preparations to ensure your listening is full and effective:

1. As you start your day, remind yourself that people love to talk, much more than they like to listen to others. So, put on your listening hat. It will teach you a lot and earn you points in every interaction!
2. While going through your schedule, try to learn about each meeting beforehand. Prepare 2-3 questions that will help you focus and become an attentive listener.
3. If you have a sales call, do thorough research on who's in the meeting and build a tailored set of questions. If any objection arises during the sale, ask questions and try to avoid over-talking. Your goal is to understand and learn about the other party, their needs, their real problem, and perhaps even their true objection.
4. With partners, friends, and close ones, you can share and talk. Remind yourself that there are places where it's great, and you can express yourself and consult – and there are places (like conversations with employees, customers, etc.) where it's really worth training your listening muscle.

You'll learn much more and improve significantly by doing so. I'm telling you, but of course, also strongly talking to myself.

That's it for today. If you have any other important points and explanations as to why listening is a great tool, share it in the comments.