Something magical happens, a sense of calm, when you stop needing all the attention directed toward yourself and instead let others have the glory.   The need for excessive attention is rooted in your ego, the part that says, look at me, I’m special, I am more interesting that you, my accomplishments are slightly more important than yours.  Ego is the part of all humans that wants to be seen, heard, respected, considered special….often at the expense of someone else.

You know the part of us that interrupts someone else’s story or impatiently waits his turn to speak again to redirect the conversation back to us.  Most of us engage in this behavior, and don’t even realize it or the effect it has on the other person.  It’s really to our own detriment.  When this happens, the joy for the person who is sharing is minimized, and that creates a distance between you and everyone else.

Instead of talking, just listen.  Rather than jumping in with “once I did the same thing” or “here’s what happened to me today” try to say things like “wow, that’s awesome” or “please tell me more.”  In fact, the next time you are in a conversation and a person is sharing their story, or an accomplishment with you… notice your tendency to say something about yourself in response.

Try to break the habit.  When you listen carefully to others, they will be more relaxed around you, more confident, and more interesting.  They won’t feel like they are in competition with you.  When you surrender the need to hog the glory, the attention you USED to need from other people is replaced with a quiet inner confidence which is the direct result of letting other people have it.