Relax, sit back and find that inner voice

What’s your ‘inner voice’ shouting out to you?

Is it just me, or does anyone else get it wrong when they choose to ignore that gut feeling, that loud voice in your head, or as I call it, your ‘inner voice’?

If you struggle with listening to your inner voice or doubt yourself and every unexplained signal or feeling you get, then join the club, so many of us also struggle or challenge it. But don’t.

From experience, I know that my inner voice is always right. Take a moment and think about your inner voice, come on admit it, you hear it or have heard it, right?

I have made a few wrong decisions by choosing not to listen or trust it. This trust of the inner voice, for me, is often swayed by being easily influenced by others, me thinking they are more superior or more knowledgeable than me. My inner voice screams ‘trust me and the decision you are choosing’ – I sure can be stubborn sometimes (I smile as I think of the comments here from those who know me).

A light-hearted example of not listening to my screaming inner voice was this weekend.

I went to our fabulous Wolverhampton Racecourse, I chose a horse to bet on, my inner voice was so strong that I thought I’d push the boat out and risk a £10 ‘to win’ bet. I shared my thoughts with someone far more knowledgeable than me and changed my bet at the very last minute to his suggestion.

Guess what? I lost and forfeited the chance of winning £135, for not trusting my inner voice as the horse romped over the winning line.

We truly can listen too much to outside influences and lose belief in ourselves, especially if our confidence or faith in ourselves is wavering or low.

Your inner voice helps with decisions but you feel confused or unsure, your inner voice, feeling, gut, whatever you might like to call it is talking to you already, but if you can’t hear it, then sit quietly for a while and focus on the matter you are contemplating.

Be patient, not my greatest trait, but give it time, you will hear your ‘inner voice’ loud and clear.

Fear of making the wrong decision, lack of faith in ourselves, negative thoughts or concern of going against the majority, can constrict the clear guidance of our subconscious voice, so listen and trust, then go with it!

Don’t mistake your true ‘inner voice’ for those niggling negative thoughts we all get from time to time as this can be destructive and unhelpful, these are usually feelings of insecurity which we all have, whether we admit it or not.

I’m a great believer in positive thinking, the more positive you are the easier your ‘inner voice’ is to hear so don’t block it with negativity.

An interesting fact too, apparently, women have a stronger ‘inner voice’ then men, so ladies just believe what your intuition is telling you, relax, be patient, don’t analyse or try too hard and pay attention.

Have fun, be aware and you’ll notice how your inner voice works and how you can trust it more and more.

• Jan Denning is founder and MD of Destination Wolverhampton & The Black Country.