Learning to listen to your inner voice again

Hello,

For a lot of my life growing up, I looked outward for answers. When someone asked me a question, I quite often felt myself freeze inside, as though everything had stopped. I would look around for advice, approval, reassurance, or for someone else to speak for me. I simply didn't have the confidence in myself, my voice, or my opinions, to speak up about what I really thought for fear of being knocked back, contradicted, or starting a debate in some way.

It wasn’t until I began listening inward that things truly began to settle.

I began to teach myself to feel my emotions and what felt right. Looking for signs and following instincts. I learned that listening to my inner voice doesn't have to be dramatic or mystical. Don't get me wrong, it can feel very weird sometimes and quite often can take a lot of courage to follow what it is telling me. But it is practical. If I have an opinion, and its worth noting in a conversation, I will speak up and make my voice heard. If other people want to contradict it, argue the case, or knock that back to the kerb then I let them, because my opinion matters. And so does yours.

Following your instinct is like a quiet knowing that gently nudges you toward what feels right, even when it doesn’t make logical sense straight away. It is like being inspired to write a specific book, out of the blue, and the universe showing me the perfect illustrator for that product within days of its creation. Everything falls into place just as it is meant to, and the more I trust that inner guidance, the steadier I feel. Not because everything is perfect, but because I’m aligned with myself.

If you’ve lost touch with that voice, it hasn’t gone anywhere. It’s perhaps just hiding behind other people's beliefs or expectations of you, and is simply waiting patiently beneath the noise.

You’re allowed to trust yourself again and if you are interested in rediscovering your voice, I've listed a few books that helped me below. Happy reading and please let me know if you have a favourite.

With encouragement, 

Fiona

Resources:

• The Secret, Rhonda Byre

• A Passion for the Possible, Dr Jean Houston

• Jonathan Livingston Seagull, Richard Bach

• One Truth, One Law: I Am, I Create, Erin Werley

• Don't Believe Everything You Think, Joseph Nguyen