7 Ways to Listen to Your Internal Voice
Your thoughts, feelings, self-talk, and gut feelings all make up your internal voice—that little guiding voice inside of you.
Your internal voice is like the gauge for your feel good factor. When you follow it, you feel better. When you ignore it, you feel lost, empty, and a little off track.
Whether you’re making a big business decision, embarking upon a new chapter in your life, entering a new relationship, or deciding whether to partake in a certain social situation this weekend, your internal voice is the one you need to pay the most attention to.
Your internal voice is heart-centered not mind-centered. And when you lead with heart – you can’t go wrong.
Below are 7 simple ways to help you honor your internal voice when making your next big – ish decision.
1. Listen to your gut: If something feels wrong in your heart and gut when you think about it (you know the sensation), appreciate that. Your intuition is right—even if others are trying to tell you something different. Trust yourself. You feel the way you feel for a reason. Honor your feelings.
2. Pretend you said, “Yes.” Now how do you feel? : Whether your friend asked you for a favor, a new project came to you, you got asked on a date, or you got offered more food, another drink, or dessert ….. see yourself saying, “YES!” …. Now, how do you feel? Think about it. Really think about it. Let it play out in your mind. Envision it, feel it, be in the situation. How do you feel about saying yes? If you feel shut down in your heart when the “yes-said scenario” comes to mind, or know it’ll make you feel angry, guilty, overworked, or annoyed – pass. And be proud of it. Own your worth.
3. Sit on it: Sometimes we need time to make a decision. Give yourself permission to take that time. It can be especially hard to figure something out when you’ve got multiple opinions and options. Think it out. Otherwise, you may get swept up in what you think you “should be doing” instead of what you really want to do. Remember, there are no shoulds. Only you know what’s best for you.
4. Talk it out: We come to some of our clearest conclusions when we talk stuff out. We uncover feelings, emotions, and intentions we didn’t even know we had. And many times, you find the answer when you’re explaining the scenario. Make space for important heart-felt conversations in your life.
5. Focus on how you want to feel: It can be easy to overlook how you want to feel (peaceful, happy, confident) and stay stuck in how you feel (nervous, anxious, defeated). But when you flip the switch and choose decisions that echo how you want to feel, magic happens. For example, if you want to feel peaceful, mediate. If you want to feel love, plan a date with someone who brings good energy into your life. Let how you want to feel be your guide.
6. Check-in with yourself: Since we’re constantly experiencing new experiences, we’re ever-changing creatures. That being said, take a moment to ask yourself, if you like where you are. If you never stop to think about it, you may not even be in-tune with your internal voice. Below is a great reminder:
“For the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: ‘If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?’ And whenever the answer has been ‘No’ for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.” – Steve Jobs
7. Journal: Tapping into your soul and letting it all out on paper with no inhibitions can make things very, very clear. Try it.
Your mind knows only some things. Your inner voice, your instinct, knows everything. If you listen to what you know instinctively, it will always lead you down the right path.
– Henry Winkler
How do you listen to your internal voice?