The Courage to Use Your Voice

“Speaking, voice, message it belongs to all of us. The day of stage speakers only, motivational speakers only, speaking to sell, are long gone. Every single one of us has a voice. Every single one of us has a responsibility to use our voice. The places that your voice is going to make the difference is in living rooms, in bedrooms, in offices, at community events, in the train station. I hope you don’t wait to get on the stage to use your voice. Your best work is done off stage. ” – Lisa Nichols talk on How to Use Your Voice

Link to Lisa’s talk: https://podcast.mindvalley.com/lisa-nichols-use-your-voice/

All too often I hear people say that “I didn’t know my voice matters” or “I don’t really have much to share” but there is a huge loss in this thinking, for two reasons. Firstly, others miss out on the gift of your voice and you loose out on the gift that comes with using your voice. Secondly, it dilutes your self-worth and in return your confidence. On some level you have told yourself that what you have to say is not enough, it doesn’t matter.

In this episode I urge you to:

Step 1: Think about an area, a situation or a relationship whereby you feel you are not speaking up?

Where are you feeling a desire to speak up, but suppressing that urge?

Step 2: What is your inner voice saying to you in that particular area/situation/relationship?

“if we want to talk about our outer communication we have to look at the inner communication” (Alexia Vernon)

Use your inner voice as your guide to what is getting in the way of you speaking up.

Get clear on what that inner voice is saying, engage with it, challenge it.

For example if you are struggling to speak up at work, what is that inner voice saying, is it saying “don’t speak up, you will lose your credibility”.

Then there is the inner voice that we want to listen to – the inner voice of wisdom, of intuition.

“Instead of pretending to themselves, and to others that they are something they are not, they start listening to their own inner voice of wisdom and begin to make more authentic decisions about how to lead their lives” – Professor Steven Joseph

Step 3: Ask yourself, if I spoke up in this situation what would happen? Name it?

Outline the worse case scenario, put a spotlight on it, the chances are you will realise that this worst case scenario is pretty unlikely.

What does the The Courage to Use your Voice mean to you? What would it do for you, for your life, for the life of others if you started to use your voice in a more honest and courageous way.

If you want to delve deeper into this topic as it relate to your own personal circumstances then please do contact me through my website https://sineadmillard.com/contact/ to schedule a one on one focused session.