Is That Voice on YOUR Side...?

Take a moment and listen to the little voice in your head. It is always there, and the messages it whispers to you are more crucial to your success - or lack thereof - than you may now realize.

If you heard something like 'What little voice? I'm always hearing about this little voice, but I'm not sure I really have one...' - that's the voice I'm talking about.

We spend our lives having conversations with ourselves...does it not make sense to consciously listen, and perhaps literally question, what this voice is telling us?

For most of us, the voice in our head is so familiar that we don't even notice it, and it seems so much a part of us that we rarely stop to think about what it's saying. You may find upon examination, however, that the voice actually streams a constant barrage of limiting beliefs, overly cautious warnings and even outright insults at you day after day. Rather than being a friendly, helpful voice of intelligent instinct, this 'helper' is actually spewing fragments of belief and input from others which have been building and mixing over a lifetime. We often knock ourselves down internally, thus treating ourselves in ways we would never treat a cherished friend.

Your Self-Image

In every aspect of your life, you hold an opinion of yourself. This opinion, however formed, largely determines your behavior, and thus your outcomes.

As one of my favorite mentors, Brian Tracy, tells us, we have an opinion of what kind of parent or sibling we are, how good we are at certain sports, whether we're kind to others, how tolerant, capable, or patient we are, and on and on, in each large and tiny facet of our lives. But where do these ideas come from? Are they true? Are they permanent and unchangeable? These are important questions...to question ourselves.

As it happens, this has come up in several books I am reading lately, and in giving the idea attention I have been able to radically change some of my interactions and even relationships. After all, if it is my thoughts that create how I react and behave, and those thoughts are constantly delivered to me by the little voice in my head, all I have to do is really listen...and then make some conscious decisions about whether I wish to believe and perpetuate what I'm hearing.

To Change

We can alter our destiny by changing what we ask and tell ourselves. With simple, conscious changes in the way we choose to perceive our lives, we can radically improve our results. As a very simple example, when the instinctual 'I can't' response to challenges becomes the pre-chosen 'How can I...?' we completely change our approach to life. (If you think you never say 'I can't,' you haven't been listening!)

As Byron Katie says in her wonderful book I Need Your Love - Is That True?, much of what we think is about winning the approval of others, and many of the things we believe are simply not true. We must take steps to ensure that what we are listening to is the voice of truth and reason, rather than the twisted and mixed-up beliefs which have been brewing in our minds and imaginations since we were children. If we don't, we are robbing ourselves - and the world - of BEING our true selves, which is a most magnificent gift.

Wayne Dyer, another of my favorite mentors, goes into great detail about listening to and living from our inner wisdom in his beautiful book Inspiration: Your Ultimate Calling. For today, a great first step is just to notice the little voice, and see if what it's telling you really resonates with you, serves you, and supports you. Is that voice on YOUR side?...

Is That Voice on YOUR Side...?