No matter what challenge you face in life, your inner voice is there to guide you. If you’ve never tried to tap into your inner voices, it’s time to follow the steps listed below to start getting to know yourself better. You’ll find that it’s so much easier to make decisions and take actions that are aligned with your values when you get to know yourself better in this way.
The Road to Character
by David Brooks
⏱ 14 minutes reading time
🎧 Audio version available
Find Time For Quiet
We spend all of our lives surrounded by people and technology, making it almost impossible to connect with our inner voices. Make sure you create time in your busy schedule to sit in silence and get to know yourself better. If you don’t have a minute in your day for peace and quiet, you’ll never know what you are really thinking. This is something that should be non-negotiable for anyone who wants to get to know themselves better, so find a few minutes each morning or evening to sit in silence and listen to your mind.
Disconnect From Technology
Technology is one of the most significant barriers between us and our inner voices. When scrolling on Instagram or Facebook, we are bombarded with the opinions of hundreds of other people. These opinions can start to take over how we feel, so make sure you know when it’s time to disconnect. Start by putting a few hours away from technology in your schedule each week, and then try to extend this for a day or two of digital detoxing. You’ll find that you think so much clearer when you aren’t connected to the outside world all day long. In no time at all, you’ll start to listen to your inner voices and make decisions based on your likes and dislikes and not someone else’s.
Look After Yourself
When you start to feel exhausted from work and everyday life, it’s time to give yourself a break. Don’t forget to add self-care activities to your schedule. You’ll find that the more you look after yourself, the more your inner voices will come out to share what they are honestly thinking. Self-care is also an excellent way to find out how you enjoy spending your time and energy. When you slow down and focus on the things you enjoy doing, you’ll reconnect with the true essence of yourself.
Try Journaling
For anyone who struggles to sit in silence and listen to their inner voices, pick up a pen and start journaling. Journaling is a great way to let your inner voices out, and you can try to write a conscious stream of thought. When you begin journaling for the first time, don’t overthink what you are writing or saying. It’s all about listening to your gut and seeing what your inner voices are telling you. The more regularly you journal, the more you’ll know when something is out of balance in your life. Even just five minutes of journaling each morning or evening will make a massive difference to your wellbeing.
Set Strong Boundaries
When you start to listen to your inner voices more, you’ll notice when you feel out of alignment with your values. Start to set stronger boundaries around your personal and professional life. If you let people interfere with your life before, you’ll no longer feel like you have complete control over your time and energy. Don’t let other people run your life, and instead, start saying no to the things that don’t serve you anymore. In time, you’ll find that you learn to trust yourself more and know when you are pushing yourself to do something that doesn’t serve you.
Lean Into Your Intuition
Have you ever had a moment in life where you don’t feel like something is right? This is your intuition speaking, but it’s something that most of us completely ignore. The next time you notice a strange feeling about doing or saying something, try to lean into your intuition. The more you listen to your inner voices, the more you will trust them to guide you through even the toughest of days. You’ll find that you then have a guiding light to take you through even the most difficult circumstances that come your way in the future.
Get Curious
When you wake up one day and feel a little off, take the time to be curious about how you are feeling. We are all so busy nowadays that we rarely take time to step back and reflect on how we are dealing with specific situations in our life. Start asking yourself questions about how you feel and what you could do differently to improve your life. The more you learn about yourself, the more you’ll be in touch with your inner voices moving forward.
Identify Patterns
When you start to listen to your inner voices more, you’ll notice patterns appear over and over again. You’ll soon notice what events or which people trigger certain emotions. In the future, you can work to avoid situations that don’t serve you so that you are trusting yourself more and only doing things that will move you forward in life. It can be frustrating to notice an emotion coming up repeatedly, but by reflecting on why you are feeling this way, you can start to make changes in your life.
Your inner voice is here to guide you through even the most difficult days of your life. If you struggle to make decisions, getting to know yourself better is one way to regain control of your life. Take time off to rest and reflect and ensure you are looking after your mental and physical health at all times as well. The more you tune into your inner voices, the more likely you will make decisions that serve your life better in the future. It’s a slow process to trust your inner voices, but one that will be incredibly rewarding in the long run.
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