I love Steve Jobs’ quote from his Stanford commencement speech: “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life… Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice… Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.”
Something inside of us always knows what is best for us – be it a big life decision like accepting a job offer or getting married or “small” decisions about saying “yes” to a party invitation or committing to volunteer for a local charity.
Today’s world often overwhelms us with ideas about how to live our life. For example, one time I felt a lot of pressure from the outside to get a mortgage and buy an apartment. Rationally it made sense to do so, but I never felt in my heart it was something I actually wanted to do, so I didn’t do it. Many other times in my life I didn’t listen to my soul and learned how painful things can get when we ignore our heart’s yearnings.
Most of the time we are simply too busy to listen to our inner voice. A big part of our life is happening on autopilot. As we rush among different activities, we often overhear messages from our soul telling us, for example, to ask for help with a particular task, do something about a job which is draining us or say “no” to something which is going to make our schedule even busier.
When we do not listen to ourselves, sooner or later we start feeling like something important is missing in our life. Perhaps on the outside we have all one can wish for – a family, job, financial stability, health – but some part inside of us feels empty.
To connect with your soul, your life’s best advisor, follow these simple steps and you will soon experience how your life is getting better:
1. Slow Down: The more we “do”, the less we can “be”. Do one task at a time instead of multitasking, free your schedule by accepting less party and dinner invitations, or get help with your household chores. Yoga, tai chi, or walking in the nature are extremely beneficial for quieting mind.
2. Book time with yourself: You make yourself available to so many other people so it is completely appropriate to reserve a quiet time just for yourself on a regular basis. It can be a few minutes or hours, but it is really important you have this undisturbed time.
3. Ask a question: Think of your soul as your inner advisor and simply ask what you want to know! For example, you need to decide about certain work offer, get still, focus inwards and ask yourself: “What is best for me?”. And listen.
Your soul is indeed your best advisor in the world. It is always available to guide you in your best interest.
The only thing you need to do to create a life full of joy, happiness and fulfillment is to listen to your soul’s voice and follow its guidance.
This post is also available in: Czech
