Why Listening to The People You Hate Will Make You Smarter

Learn from your enemies

Daily Stretch #30: Learn from your enemies

Your enemies are human beings too. Photo by Tobi Oluremi on Unsplash

“Don’t go through life, grow through life.” — Eric Butterworth

I started to pack my stuff as the audience was leaving the auditorium. A small group was still hanging around me.

“Are you Cuban?” — I was caught off-guard by this woman’s question.

My accent is deceiving, I know. I’ve been attributed many nationalities in the past, but Cuban… that was the first time.

“Well, you just praised Fidel Castro. Who else would use him as an example?” — she added.

I realized what was going on. I just finished my talk on how to use failure to build resilience. I’ve used Castro as an example of someone who failed several times. But, in spite of the many defeats, he continued to persist until he achieved his end goal.

I used other examples too. But this woman got stuck with the one that wasn’t ‘politically correct.’

When we disagree with someone because they think differently, we stop listening.

“His…