Great; this is day 1!

This is an important day. Forget about keeping all the balls in the air, meeting your deadlines and organizing enough me-time…

This is not just a day, but the day that you can give your own voice the space he or she needs to be fully heard. And heard … especially, yes, especially by you. This is an important day that will help you juggle all the balls throughout the day with playful ease and fun. And more importantly, to be completely yourself. I can highly recommended it.

I “hear” voices 😉

We know the familiar sound of our own voice as it is formed by our vocal cords. A much less trusted “sound” to most of us is our inner voice. It is also called our intuition, our heart or gut feeling. The beauty of this “voice” is that it “speaks” to us in many different ways. Sometimes we see, sometimes we hear, sometimes we feel and sometimes we know.  

When we give that subtle voice the space to express ourselves, we will start living effortlessly. We then create time, energy and better results because we no longer waste time and effort on doubts, deliberations and uncertainty. We immediately “know” what we can do and are thus many times more effective and efficient. We will, mainly, no longer do what does not matter for us anymore. And the most important thing is of course that this gives us much more pleasure and satisfaction. We allow ourselves to just be us! Yes!

That’s not-done!

And this is not something we openly do in our Western culture. Hard work is the norm, we are often expected to be rational and to argue with facts and logic why it is “true” what we think and feel. And next to that, it is also important that others agree with us. This is how we are taught, how it goes in the public debate and, for many of us, our upbringing.  

The interesting thing is, that most of us know our inner voice but use it very little. For example, when I ask my students in the Personal Leadership course that I teach at university, who makes intuitive choices, it is the vast majority of students. And these students will not get more technical; they are from theoretical math, construction science and electrical engineering. And this applies just as much to the participants in our global leadership development programs.

Except, they do this with “small” choices. The really important choices matter too much and you need to be absolutely certain about the decisions so you should think about them carefully. Intuition then, is not sure enough.

The great thing about this underexposed topic of conversation is every time, everyone finds it a bit scary to admit that they make intuitive choices, despite the fact that it is difficult and there is a lot of doubt. Just like it is “not done”. But when the participants experience that it is very effective to listen to your inner voice and we then share experiences, it becomes increasingly normal and easier, also for the “big” choices. And that gives peace of mind and comfort.

If we stop hiding our own intuition (consciously or unconsciously) because we are afraid to say something stupid or wrong, then we can be ourselves and enjoy it.

Who wouldn’t want that?

Great…but how??

I can hear you thinking…”great, but… how?” “I often have such a full head, I am so busy, I have so much etc, etc”. And there you immediately have your step #1:   This “need” for doing things and non-stop activity is your main inner-information-flow-silencer. Our thinking often rumbles on, taking up all the space. So thats why:  

Step 1: Pause

Build in moments of relaxation and silence throughout the day so you can pay attention. Social media, phone calls and continuous input from others are distracting and disturbing. So create relaxation and silence, for example taking a walk in nature, focusing for a few minutes on your inhalation and exhalation or consciously enjoying a cup of coffee, music, your children, a piece of chocolate or something else that’s beautiful or tasty .

And once this has calmed your overly active head, become aware of what your senses are subtly telling you. What do you feel, hear or see? Give yourself a few minutes to allow that perception to emerge.  

Step 2: Receive

The next step is not to expect anything when you start “listening”. Sometimes it takes a while before you hear, feel or see something. Other times the information “pours out” on you. But you never know in advance in what way. So if you don’t expect anything, you give yourself space to receive and everything you need at that moment can come to you in a relaxed manner. So allow yourself to receive with curiosity and “an empty head”.

Be open-minded as a small, curious child (as they are really good at it).

Step 3: Trust yourself  

And then… stop doubting! That is perhaps the most difficult step for our rational brain. To “surrender” oneself to something so elusive. Often innumerable arguments, questions or doubts are poured over each other in order not to have to rely on our authentic but sometimes “inexplicable” knowledge. You don’t have to resist it because, admittedly, this can be a bit scary in the beginning.  

And yet… give yourself the chance; practice makes perfect. It is a matter of embarking on the adventure and take a leap of faith. If you’re in love, you know that too, and the doubts don’t change this; you’re still in love. The same goes for your intuition. So learn to trust yourself by giving your own voice a chance to show that it “works”.

Enjoy!

Simple? Perhaps not at first sight. But as a former control-freak, I can tell you that I’ve never lived this effortlessly since I started integrating the above steps into my daily startup ritual. I can recommend it wholeheartedly.  

So do you want less balls, the right deadlines and more relaxation, fun and me-time as your standard? Go crazy, give yourself a chance and make room in your life for yourself.  

I am very curious how you like it, so keep me posted and if you have any questions let me know!  

Enjoy it!

Esther