Follow Your Inner Compass: How to Listen to the Voice Inside You
If you ask a pilot how he navigates, how he knows he's flying in the right direction, GPS will probably come up in the answer. The sky doesn't have any signs you can follow, at least no manmade ones. The GPS is a wonderful invention, but it’s useless if you lose electrical power. That’s why most planes have a basic compass mounted near the windshield.
It’s a simple thing... white markings on a black ball that rotates freely in a clear housing. If the GPS fails, the compass helps you fly in the right direction. But a compass can be off sometimes. If you have magnetic interference near it, maybe an electronic item too close on the dashboard, you can get a false reading.
Planes aren’t the only things with compasses. Humans have them too. Some call it intuition or instinct, others call it a voice from a higher power, but whatever you call it, we all have an inner compass that helps us reach the place in life we're meant to be.
This compass—or inner voice—gives us guidance, shows what’s right for us and what’s not. But too often, our chaotic surroundings generate so much interference—electronics, mental chatter, packed schedules, and other distractions—that our natural ability to follow that inner compass is diminished. How can we get where we want to go in life if our inner compasses are continuously off?
We correct that compass by taming the chaotic interference surrounding us.
Here are a few ideas to help:
Stop and listen - When our lives move at light speed, sometimes we don’t stop to pay attention to that inner compass. In the movies, when the hero is trekking through the jungle or desert, what do they do to make sure they’re going the right direction?
They stop to get their bearings.
Take time each week from your busy schedule to get your bearings. Find quiet locations that sustain you, places where you can better hear that inner voice. Nature is a wonderful place to break free from the chaos. Find a bench in a tranquil park. Scope out a wooded trail on a local greenway, one where you can perch on a log under green canopies and be still. Wait... watch... and listen. Do this enough and the haze will lift, allowing you to tune into the inner place that knows what to do.
Learn to quiet your mind- This one is similar to the previous item, but it deserves its own category. You may stop and listen, but if endless mental chatter fills your head you won’t hear anything else. Many call this meditation, but I believe that word intimidates some. I don’t think it’s the concept that intimidates but rather meditation is perceived as difficult to master. Some may think, why bother? Novices may envision sitting for hours with an erect back and hands folded in their lap. Fine if you can do it but it’s not a firm requirement to receive the benefits. Simply pick a few times a day to clear your mind, to let go of the mental noise parading through your head. Some complain of hundreds of thoughts that vie for attention. In my case, it’s a few nagging ones monopolizing my mental space, ones playing over and over like an annoying song you can’t shake from your head. When I quiet my mind and jettison that endless loop, what I’m really doing is clearing a landing pad for the answers I seek. As a side benefit, I often get new ideas and big picture concepts that descend on that open space as well.
Stop listening to what other people say is right for you - Often these are people close to us, a parent or a friend. But total strangers sometimes want to tell you what you should do. Practice tuning these people out. I’m not saying you shouldn’t consider other people’s advice. I’ve simply found the people who give the best advice are not the ones who tell me what I should do in a situation but those who tell me what they did in a similar situation. When conveyed that way, I’m on the outside of the situation, hearing one person’s approach to it, rather than being told what to do. And if the person hasn’t been in the same situation, why are they giving advice on it and why would you listen? Deep down you know what is right for you. Let others worry about themselves.
Flip a coin - This may sound frivolous but when I’m faced with a tough decision, confused between opposing paths, and my inner voice seems drowned out by too much life noise, I’ll flip a coin: heads for one path, tails for the other. One of two things happens: either the coin will land on one representative choice and I’ll feel instant relief, or it will land on the other and I immediately have the urge to flip again to make it two out of three. If I feel that desire to flip again, I know the other choice was the one my inner self wanted. Know that I not saying a coin toss should determine vital life choices, but how you feel after the coin lands is a good indicator if that choice is right for you or not.
Ultimately, you must have confidence in your inner compass. Most of us know it lies within, but some are rusty using it. Try the methods above to get in sync with this wonderful gift. Use it to remain true to your course and, in the end, true to yourself.
