"The Ratio of Your Face"
July 5, 2025
“The Ratio of Your Face”
A ratio is a mathematical way to compare the relative sizes of two or more quantities. It shows how much of one thing there is compared to another.
In my past, I have spoken when I should have listened. I have also inserted my “foot in my mouth” more times than I can remember.
According to “International Journal of Advance Engineering and Research Development” Decades of studies still find that in ordinary communication we spend roughly 45 % of our time listening, 30 % speaking, 16 % reading (much less for younger people) and 9 % writing; yet most formal training targets everything except listening.
In my career, I have met, and worked with, many different types of people. There have been “know-it-alls” and “deceivers” and “servers” and “whiners” and “leaders” “talkers” and “listeners” and “followers.” The ethical people who, consistently, outperform everyone else have mastered the ratio of their face and, more importantly, the faces of those around them.
The ratio of your face seems to be intentional. What? Most people reading my words were born with two ears, two eyes…and one mouth. Hmmmm. Have you mastered that ratio?
It is very difficult to learn anything while you are talking. Many people, who don’t know that they don’t know, talk much more than they listen and do not observe with a desire to learn. This seems to be a consistent pattern of younger people. They don’t understand the wisdom of mastering the ratio of their faces.
The developed geniuses, among us, listen and observe, much more than we speak.
Studies in neuroscience show that active listening increases empathy and trust. Observation sharpens emotional intelligence and the ability to read people’s tone, body language, and intent. In contrast, constant talking often bypasses the deeper processing centers of the brain, reinforcing ego rather than understanding.
This can only be mastered when you and I learn everything possible how people think and behave in their lives. Learning from wise people is like an “operating system” in a computer. If the “operating system” is compromised nothing works properly. If the “operating system” is created with expertise and ethics success comes much faster.
The reduced percentage of time that you speak versus the increased time you listen and observe can be transformational in your life. If you master the ratio of your face the number of times that you “insert your foot in your mouth” decreases dramatically.
The people who have mastered the ratio of their face have learned to “see around corners” in ways most people cannot even imagine.
The “noise” that you allow in your life will, 100% of the time, distract you from mastering your facial ratio that will lead to the destruction of your life by always being pulled off the path to the top. The “noise” is not your friend. The “noise” tempts many people to respond to the noise thus inverting the ratio of your face that leads to personal failure.
When someone is speaking, stop thinking about how you will respond and focus on what they are saying, how they are saying it and why they are saying it. When they are finished talking….pause…and consider their words in order to respond with wisdom. This is the way of the wise. Choose to be a listener. Choose to be the one who asks the most questions for the purpose of learning and living your life in a way that only a small percentage of people have lived.
Author Doug Larson shares: "Wisdom is the reward you get for a lifetime of listening when you'd have preferred to talk."
When you learn to become aware and master the ratio of your face…everything changes in your life.
I Believe in YOU!
John W. Carver, LUTCF
john@johnwcarver.com