The Inner Voice

It’s a few weeks now since this year’s Trainers’ Conference, and I’ve been reflecting on my own learning and insights. The most important for me, I think, was the power of the ‘inner voice’.

I was struck by the significance both of our keynote speakers, Jim Lawless and Sally Gunnell put on the ‘inner voice’.

We all have an inner voice – as Jim says, it might be the one that just said “no, I don’t!” And it has a huge impact on our emotions, beliefs and ultimately what we actually do and achieve.

The inner voice is particularly good, in my experience, at preventing you taking action. Like right now – I actually want to take a few hours off work this afternoon to pop into Exeter but that voice is coming up with all the reasons why I can’t:

“It’s a ‘work day’, you’ve already had one day off this week and besides, you’re all behind, look at the number of emails in your inbox and just look at the state of your desk. You can’t even see the surface to dust it. And anyway, it’ll be too late soon.”

Oh dear.

I experienced the full impact of the inner voice last year when I first thought about fulfilling a life-long ambition. I’ll talk more about that adventure another time but in short my ambition was to buy and train, by myself, an unbroken (I hate that word) horse.

The inner voice had a field day with that (forgive the pun):

“You’ve no idea what to do. You’ve never even been near an unbroken horse. They’re dangerous. You don’t have the skills and, besides, you’re too old now.”

Ouch!

It was actually the age thing that made me challenge the inner voice – the realisation, (which I think only comes to you in your forties) that time isn’t endless.

So, I did what Sally talked a lot about. I changed the inner voice. Instead of worrying about my lack of skills, I thought about how it would feel to work with a young horse. I imagined a bond developing and the feeling I would get the first time I sat on my horse. I thought about what help there might be if I needed it and I focused on the need to take action now, because time isn’t endless.

Right now, I’m tasting lunch in Exeter. See ya. :-)

Rod Webb
www.glasstap.com