A Coaching Power Tool By Akriti Adhikari, Women Confidence Coach, UNITED KINGDOM
The Key Question for Inner Voice vs. Noise
In the hustle and bustle of life, it is sometimes very easy to ignore the inner voice and get distracted by the noise outside. We worry too much about the world. What would people say, my boss asked me to do XYZ, my partner wants me to do XYZ, and my peers suggested I buy a house. The key question is what is your inner voice saying? Can we try to turn down the outer noise and hear our voice?
A lot of questions can be answered from within if the focus is on the voice.
What Is the Difference Between Inner Voice vs. Noise?
What Is a Noise:
Any sort of distraction that is causing a disturbance. It could be the thoughts bothering you, or it could be events around the world that affects you or others’ demand/expectations of you. Sometimes the noise is so overpowering that we tend to lose focus on ourselves. We stop listening to our voice which has some hidden wants from within. I’d like to give my example – I kept on fulfilling others’ wishes like – choosing a career that my parents wanted, following what my boss demands at work, following what my friends did – for example – getting an engineering and MBA degree, thought it was the best option as most of my friends followed it. All these I consider as noise. However, there was a shift in my perspective recently. I started questioning every decision I took because of others’ influence. I started to focus more inwards, on the inner voice. Which helped me understand my true values and wishes. The inner voice has a lot of power, it tells you what decisions to take, and what path to take in life. It gives me the confidence to believe in myself. The shift from noise to voice is helping me to stay happier, worry less about others and choose what is right for me.
What Is Inner Voice:
The inner voice is a sense, feeling, or impression from the inside. All your life there has been an inner voice offering guidance, gently and sometimes urgently. We sometimes listen to it and sometimes ignore it. In my experience, I have ignored it every time I was distracted by the noise outside. I somehow believed in others than myself. The inner voice goes by different names: inner guide, spiritual guide, inner wisdom, intuition, etc.
The Shift:
This inner voice is a very light touch and is easy to ignore. The shift in our life comes when we start listening to or feeling these inner impressions and cut ourselves off from the outside world for some time. This can only happen when we tune into the inner rhythm and ignore or block outside noise.
Why Is This Shift Important:
This shift towards the inner voice helps you to answer your questions, solve your life problems or gain clarity in life. Once this art of listening to yourself is cultivated then you will elevate yourself both mentally and emotionally.
Coaches can use this power tool to help the client become aware of themselves and enable the shift. As per Deepak Chopra, below are some of the meaningful ways to practice listening to your voice:
- Cultivate present-moment awareness
- Practice mindfulness in all activities
- Follow a healthy diet
- Exercise
- Surround yourself with people who support you and your dreams
- Meditate
References
Why You Should-And How to-Listen to Your Inner Voice| Chopra
Do You Have an Inner Voice? Not Everyone Does | HowStuffWorks
