I Hear Some Version of this All the Time.
From Leaders.
From Entrepreneurs.
From Digital Writers.
From Content Creators.
They All ask a Similar Question.
Why Are My Words Not Reaching Others?
It is Not Always "Words" of Course.
Sometimes it's Posts.
Sometimes it's Articles.
Sometimes it's Training or Teachings.
But what ends up occurring is Always the Same.
They Are Not Getting Heard.
They put their Thoughts, Ideas, Emotions, and Desires out into the World.
Their Team.
Their Audience.
The Internet.
Yet they Seem to be Ignored.
It is Frustrating.
Especially when you put a "Lot" of Effort into getting Heard.
Not just Physical Labor.
There is often Extreme Emotional Labor that we put into Getting Heard.
When we Remain Unheard, there is often a Spiritual Toll as well.
We Feel Empty.
Depleted.
Defeated.
I Understand that Feeling only Too Well.
I have had Hundreds of Articles and Posts, maybe even Thousands at this Point...
All met with the Same Sound...
Silence.
This brings us to the Question...
How Do We Get Heard?
How Do We Reach Others?
Well, there are a Few Possibilities we must Look At when we Approach this Subject from a Sageship Perspective.
The First is a Matter of Trust.
Have You Earned Trust Yet?
I Believe this is the Hardest and Most Difficult Question people Face.
We all "Know" How Valuable our Words Are, so Why Do "Others" Not See It?
They "Should" Trust Them!
Let me give you a Story to Help Explain the Problem Here.
You're Walking Down the Street, and it's a Beautiful Day.
The Sun is Shining.
The Clouds are making Fun Animal Shapes.
You're Hearing a Funny Story from a Friend.
Suddenly...
Out of Seemingly Nowhere...
A Tall Man in a Trench Coat Appears in Your Vision.
They open their Jacket Up and have a Collection of Watches.
"I've got the Best Watches Around Here! You name it I got it! Rolex, Cartier, Omega, Audemars Piguet! Do you got a Watch on your Wrist? I got the Perfect Reason you should Invest in one of these Timepieces Right Now!"
Do you Trust this Man?
Do you Stop and Listen to what they have to Say?
Do you give them Money on the Spot?
Probably Not.
Even if Everything this Guy is Saying "Is" True.
Even if these Time Pieces "Were" the Best In Town.
You'd Still Probably Ignore Them and Leave.
This is "Exactly" How "Most" People try to "Get Heard".
They Post on Social Media.
They Try to go to a Networking Meeting.
They Write an Article.
They Send a Direct Message or Email.
No Different than the Man on the Street.
So how do you Overcome this?
Consistency.
Do you Trust the Man on the Street, or the Storefront that has Been in the Same Location for 20 Years?
I'm not saying that you have to do something for 20 Years to Gain Trust.
It is just that the More Consistent You Are, the Easier it is to Earn Trust.
Consistency Builds Trust.
The More Consistent, the Easier it is to Trust.
But You Must Also Have Quality with Consistency.
Consistency without Quality is Junk.
Consistent Quality beats "Both" Quality and Consistency Alone.
If you Want to be Heard, You Must have Consistent Quality.
There is a Secret Way to Supercharge this as well.
Live in Consistent Quality.
There is a saying...
You Cannot Give What You Do Not Have.
Are you "Living" in the Consistent Quality that You are Giving?
Let's give Another Scenario Here.
You are Choosing a Physical Trainer.
Both have the Same Qualifications.
The Only Difference is that One is Overweight and Smokes, and the Other Looks like a Model.
Which do you Choose?
Probably the One who Looks like a Model.
Even "If" the Overweight Smoker had "Better" Qualifications, You'd "Still" Be More Likely to Choose the One who Looks like a Model.
Why?
You can "See" they Walk the Walk.
You can "See" they Live in Consistent Quality to "Achieve" that Result.
I Call this a "Wayset", or a Way of Being.
When you "Live" in Consistent Quality, that is Your Wayset, People are Significantly More Likely to Trust You Faster.
The Next Challenge you may be facing is that You Fail to be Heard because You have Failed to Understand.
What do I mean?
Let's look at the Guy on the Street again.
He says, "You need a Watch!"
Then, he starts to Tell You "Why" You Want "This" Watch.
They Start to Try to Sell you this Beautiful Piece of Artistic Watch with Gears you can See inside, Created by a Master Watchsmith with 100 Hours of Craftsmanship, and its Resale Value in 20 Years will be 2000x what it's Worth Today...
But you have an Issue with the Watch...
It's Really Hard to See the Time.
All you want is to be able to Tell the Time Easily.
Those other things are "Neat", but really you're just interested in the Time.
When you look at this Watch, you Cannot See the Time Easily, so you'll Probably Pass.
This is also how Most People Try to "Get Heard".
They Say, "This is Why You Need This!"
But Fail to Understand What Their Audience Says They Need.
Their Audience may say, "Hey, That's Cool".
But that is where it Ends.
No Purchases.
No Changes in Behavior.
No Lessons Learned.
Just a Thumbs Up, and they Move On with their Day.
If you want to be Understood by Others, First Seek to Understand Others.
The Better you Understand Others, the Better You'll Be Heard.
When you look at those Considered "Sages" throughout History, they Always Start the Exact Same Way.
They Ask Questions.
They Do Not Just "Tell" People What to do.
They Ask Questions Until they "Understand" What People Need.
Only then do they Even "Consider" Giving a Solution.
They Know that the People will Only Listen "After" they Believe they are Understood.
Seek First to Understand.
There is a Third Challenge You May be Facing if You Are Not Being Heard.
We will look at the Man with Watches Again.
They are Standing on a Sidewalk, where People are Frequently Traveling Through.
Lots of People, Lots of Traffic.
It Seems Like a Winning Situation, Right?
Except it Is Not.
Why?
The People Walking Through have a Tight Agenda.
They are Trying to get to Work.
They are Running to Lunch Quickly.
They are Running to Get Home to the Kids.
All of these People that the Watchman is Encountering Are Not Listening.
They Have No Desire to Listen.
They are Functionally Deaf to the Watchman.
Many People Expect to be Heard but are Speaking to People who have "Chosen" Not to Listen.
Their Audience is Functionally Deaf.
I see this with Leaders Speaking to their Employees.
I see this with Entrepreneurs and Creators Speaking to their Followers.
I see this with Digital Writers who are Writing to the World.
They are Putting Out Value, but it has only Reached the Functionally Deaf.
Now, if this is the Challenge You Face...
And You Do Already Have Consistent Quality...
And You Truly Have Understood Those You're Speaking To...
Then this is a Matter of Time.
You Must Keep Speaking until you Encounter those Ready to Listen.
Until you Encounter those Seeking What You Offer Already.
This may Require You to Go Find them.
They May Not Exist on the "Top Platform".
I see this with Entrepreneurs and Creators who try to "Follow" the Latest Trends, even when their Work Doesn't "Fit" into those Trends Well.
They May Not Be a Part of Your Organization Yet.
I see this with Leaders who try to "Push" Current Employees who have No Desire to Grow into the "Future" Leaders of the Organization.
Not Everyone Wants to Hear You.
Not Everyone is Ready to Hear You.
So you Must Find those Who Want and Are Ready to Hear.
This is the Interesting Part Though.
When You Focus on the Functionally Deaf, You Hear Silence.
When You Focus on those Willing and Ready to Hear, Suddenly More People Find You.
Eventually, it gets to a point where the Functionally Deaf change their mind and Begin to Listen to You.
This is the Missing Component for Many People.
Quit Focusing on those Who are Functionally Deaf.
Find those Who are Ready and Willing to Listen.
Make sure You Understand them Clearly.
Then, Provide them with Quality, Consistently.
This is the Path to Being Heard.