When you have extremely original ideas, do you sometimes find it difficult to find support — even from your most loyal friends? Do they leave you on the sidelines at times, rather than cheer you on when you speak up with your authentic voice? To find answers and strength, when our friends are missing — go within.
We sometimes look for acceptance from others when we lack confidence. It’s not unusual to be insecure when a creative idea is still unfolding. But it’s a waste of time and effort to figure out what others want to hear, or to reform your ideas to their approval. And it isn’t fair to our support teams to rely on them for what is an inside job.
Dare to have your original ideas. Then, allow them to develop fully. Explore where they take you, and allow yourself to be — your authentic self.
Others can only show you their love and support to the extent they are able. Don’t expect them to always understand you or follow the same direction as you. You are uniquely you, just as they are uniquely them. Each of us has a responsibility to be our unique best.
Be bold enough to connect the dots between that illuminating thought that just won’t leave you — the one that opens your heart, gives you hope, and gets your brain churning, even if it scares you. Be brave enough to step away from a friend or a group that doesn’t quite understand.
The price paid
The risk of not developing your ideas is steep. At the simplest level, your great idea(s) will disappear. But even more dire, someone else will have that idea — and develop it into something great. Within the principal of collective unconsciousness, an idea that one person has will enter the group consciousness. Once that great idea exists out there, it’s free game for anyone to claim.
If you’ve had the idea already, and it’s lodged in your mind, it’s up to you to grab it and make something of it. If you don’t, someone else will. How will you feel watching your idea take form under someone else’s direction?
Once you allow pieces of you to escape, your authentic voice will get quieter. If you choose to adopt others opinions, or modify your own in order to fit in with a group, over time you may not recognize your voice. Before you risk deadening it, listen to it.
How to hear your authentic voice within
When life is busy, it can be a challenge to separate all the voices in our head! Paying attention to a co-worker’s plan versus designing your own can get more complex than just taking pen in paper and writing it out. The following ideas will reconnect you to your authentic voice when you need to create clarity.
- Spend time alone
- Shut out the noise
- Go outside … be in nature to get in touch with your true nature
- Listen to the quiet… and what is within that quiet
- Move your body — get your body moving to quiet your mind and hear your voice
- Try writing a question — and wait for the answer
- Meditate
Your authentic voice differs hugely from your ego. The voice you hear in the quiet spaces is the one that gives you peace, inspiration, and answers that fills in the blanks. Your ego is the one shouting you on and planning the celebration for how this idea is going to make you rich and famous. It gets you riled up, but not in a good way. Authenticity means owning your voice, your ideas, your preferences, passions — every part that makes up you — and putting that expression in the world in the best way you know how.
Other people do matter — immensely. It just helps to remember that we connect best to others only after we have taken care of ourselves, and that includes paying attention to the quietest whispers of inspiration within.
If you’d like support developing your ability to hear your inner wisdom, my course on intuition is now available. How to Hear What You Know: A Course on Developing Your Intuition to Practically Guide You Through Life is an on-line program with lessons consisting of videos, worksheets, and more. At completion, you are supported in your intuitive development through an online community hosted by me with ongoing resources and information. Find more details here.
