The better students and athletes listen not just when the instructor is speaking to them, but whenever the instructor is speaking. A suggestion to a classmate, some advice for a teammate, a minor correction to someone’s technique — these are not bits of wisdom just for others. Rather, these are bits of wisdom that can help bring color and resolution to one’s own understanding.

The principle is not to be nosy or to eavesdrop — or to think that advice for others is always suited for us — but to have eyes and ears that are eager to learn, whenever knowledge is shared.