Over my many years I have noticed a few differentiating traits in people. One of them is our trust level in first impressions. When we hear something for the first time, the speed at which we are comfortable accepting that first judgment varies wildly from person to person.
In my case, I am very quick to judge the merits (or demerits) of what I hear, but then take a lot of time disassembling that decision into its component parts to figure out the whys and wherefores. On the opposite end of the scale, there are those that seem to respond in the opposite order. They immerse themselves in example after example before making a conclusion.
Of course, in our lives we figure out what works and doesn't work by keeping score.
How we get to the greatest number of correct answers—quick judgment followed by slow disassembly or the opposite—hopefully doesn't have a lot of bearing on the outcome.
The most successful listeners I know have developed over the years a level of trust in their evaluation process.
If it works for you, don't stress about the way or the speed at which you use first impressions to form opinions. It's one of the reasons we offer a month of in home audition for our products. Some are blown away at the first drop of the needle while others take weeks to decide.
In the end, it's the long term joy our systems give us that makes it all worthwhile.
