You may be listening to their words while your mind is listening to their history.

“They always do this.”
“She doesn’t care.”
“He never listens.”
“I know what they really mean.”
“Here we go again.”

Once we believe we already know someone’s intention, it becomes difficult to hear what they’re actually saying.

We start filtering the conversation through everything we already believe about them.
Then we respond to the interpretation, not necessarily the person in front of us.

Better communication sometimes starts before we say anything:
What did they actually say?
And what did my mind add?