Our Inner Voice is the constant stream of thoughts and commentary that runs through our minds. It can be both a helpful guide and a relentless critic, shaping how we see ourselves and the world, influencing our emotions, and driving our actions.
What does your Inner Voice say to you? Does it help you or hurt you? Are you in control of it, or is it in control over you?
We can learn how to better manage our Inner Voice, but it truly is a lifelong battle. Two Wolves is a Cherokee Indian legend that illustrates the battle of good and evil that takes place in our minds. Here is how the story goes:
An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life.
“A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy.
“It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil – he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.”
He continued, “The other is good – he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith.
The same fight is going on inside you – and inside every other person, too.”
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf will win?”
The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”
We can train our Inner Voice to help us by feeding the positive wolf. How do we do this? Here are three steps we can use to do so:
1 - Observation and Awareness
We have millions of thoughts running through our minds all day. The first step is to start thinking about what you are thinking about and label your thoughts as good or bad. When you do, you start to realize your thoughts are things, not who you are.
2 - Keep the Good, Remove the Bad
Practice keeping the good and removing the bad when you label the thoughts. This will take time and a lot of practice because we all have a negativity bias, a tendency to see, feel, and hear negativity stronger and more often than positivity. Ask yourself if your thoughts are based on facts or assumptions. Are you really a bad person or not good enough, or are those just thoughts and fears you have?
5x Olympic Medalist Gabby Thomas once said she spent an entire week writing, “I will be an Olympic champion,” over 500 times in the notes app in her phone to drill in it her head. She said she would wake up every day and do that over and over again, envision the race, and then went about her day. She said, “You have to believe it; you have to make yourself believe it even if you trick yourself into believing it. In my head, it had already happened. I had envisioned the race so many times that it was already a reality in my brain.”
3 - Have Good Habits
Put in the work. Faith without works is dead. You have to put in the work. Confidence comes from putting in the work and having success because of the work you put in. Have a plan for getting better, execute the plan, and celebrate the small wins along the way.
The harder you work, the more success you have, and the more you talk positively to yourself, the stronger you make your Inner Voice.
Everything in life is a choice, and that includes our thoughts and our words.
Something(s) to Think About
1 - What is your biggest takeaway from this post?
2 - How would you rate your Inner Voice on a scale of 1-5 where 1 is the most negative voice in the world, and 5 is the most positive voice in the world?
3 - When is your Inner Voice positive, and when is it negative?
4 - What are some things you can do to be more aware of and better manage your inner voice?
For a printable PDF version of this post, click here: Mastering Our Inner Voice
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