> It's rather the opposite: if you could just go with what the person says to understand what they mean, then listening would be reallyyyyy easy.

Then I must be really good as listening, because I always believe I know what people are going to say.

That's orthogonal though - wha they are going to say is not the same as what they mean.

Good at listening means "understanding what they meant" (not necessarily, or even usually, what they said) and also "make them feel heard".