Listening Without Judgment

Welcome to the joyful journey podcast. If you're uncertain about what you really want or unsure how to be a force for good, you know this world craves, then this is the show for you. I'm Anita Adams, your host and guide to finding clarity and creating a life you love. Let's tap into our inner wisdom, access our highest self and unleash joy. As we raise our vibration, we heighten the collective consciousness and that, my friends, is the joyful journey. Let's dive in.

Hey, joyful journeyers, Anita Adams here your host of the joyful journey podcast. And today, I want to devote a bit of time to expand upon guiding principle two 00:00:41

listening without judgment, as the judgment piece is a big hurdle for many to overcome. I grew up with a stepdad who told me every opportunity he had that I was stupid, he'd mock my intelligence, and then would tell me, I had to use that pea sized brain of mine. And so I did I use my brain. And I discarded anything resembling intuition or wisdom or anything that was feeling based and not logic based. Learning to trust more than just what your brain tells you is not easy for a lot of people. I totally get that. Many of us have been conditioned to not listen to our intuition, our guts, that inner wisdom. And yet some of the best minds and most accomplished individuals have told us that we must do exactly that. Listen to our inner voice of wisdom. Steve Jobs said, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary. Martha Beck, a Harvard trained sociologist, world renowned coach, and New York Times best selling author had this to say, somewhere in there among the worries, questions, advice and advertising, jingles, lives, your intuition, your true inner voice, you can hear it to the extent you give it your attention. And award winning actress says the space six as I listen to that inner voice, everyone has an inner voice, you just have to listen to it and trust it, in order to be led by it. I did that. And it gave me the ability to live a life that is true to who I am, and what I really wanted. These highly accomplished individuals and countless others understand the importance of listening to and trusting that inner voice. When it speaks up. It is sharing with you the highest grandest version of who you are, that's worth listening to. The problem is a lot of people are challenged with the judgment that fast appears on the heels of your inner wisdom. I call that voice the inner critic. It says things like, you can't do that. You're not smart enough. What a stupid idea. Who do you think you are anyway? Have you heard that voice before? That is not your highest self speaking. Here's the important distinction between these two voices, that voice of the inner critic usually, if not always comes from a place of fear. And your inner voice of wisdom always comes from a place of love. It speaks to you of your highest self and places before you your grandest version of who you are. When you listen to that inner wisdom, your decision for your life for your family, your organization, the community you represent, will come from that higher place and you will better serve yourself and everyone in your life. Can you imagine where our world would be today if more people acted from their highest self, if all our leaders acted from their highest self, wow, it would be a different world. The way to understand what is important to that true higher self is by listening to and trusting that inner voice.

Hey, joyful journeyers, Anita Adams here your host of the joyful journey podcast. And today, I want to devote a bit of time to expand upon guiding principle two 00:04:33

All right, we haven't really addressed how to do that without judgment yet. So let's tackle that. The first step is to decipher between that inner voice of wisdom and the inner critic. Remember the inner critic typically comes from a place of fear and inner wisdom comes from a place of love, showing you the best version of who you are. Common fears are fear of failure fear of looking foolish fear of rejection. even fear of success and how that can change your life. That inner critic that is full of fear has a loud voice and can easily overshadow the inner voice wisdom. So pay attention to these two voices and identify them for what they are. I've worked with some amazing people over the years who've helped me to understand what you need to do to push past those fears and step into being the person you want to be and into the life you want to create. It's not easy, because that inner critic can be ruthless. And at times, it will come with a lot of baggage and some big stories. You can't be tamed though. It just requires a personal investment of your time. And you are worth it. Awareness of the stories you are telling yourself is an important step in taming those fears. And that goes back to guiding principle one looking inward. Once you identify your fears, fear failure, or rejection or whatever, then invest time in pulling back and examining the layers of each of those fears. For instance, what does fear of judgment really mean when you break it down? Here's an example of the internal dialogue I had once not too long ago when I was exploring something big, new and scary for me went like this. Who am I afraid is going to judge me, Tom? Do I really believe my husband will stand in judgment? No, actually, he wouldn't. Of course, of course he wouldn't. Who else then? Sarah, maybe? Does it really matter? She does. Why am I so concerned about what she thinks anyway? Well, maybe she'd be embarrassed for me, or won't want to be my friend because I embarrass her. Now, that's just silly, isn't it. And boy, I'm not giving Sara much credit, am I She's a better friend than that. And seriously, seriously, if she wanted to end our friendship, because I embarrassed her about something that is meaningful to me. And she's not really a friend is she? That is an example of a dialog I had with myself, and I broke it down into little pieces. And that fear began to lose its grip on me. Once you examine your fears like this, they may not disappear, they just won't be so debilitating. Once you identify your fears and break them down. The next step is to paint a vivid picture of you and your life once you've achieved your goals. This is a two step process that starts with visualizing and then moves into journaling. And journaling a very specific way.