Listen To Your Inner Voice
As we investigate further into the power of accountability when working toward your goals, something we haven’t talked about yet is that little voice in our head that either encourages us to do something else, also known as procrastinating. Or the other one, the critical one. The one that tells us we didn’t get the things done we set out to do. If you listen to your inner voice, you can leverage this to your advantage.
Don’t Beat Yourself Up
Why is it important to listen to your inner voice? Because it has an impact on your life both on a conscious and a subconscious level. Let’s start with that negative voice because in the long run it’s the most destructive of the two. Back in April, I wrote an article about beating procrastination and we talked about the importance of forgiving yourself. To quickly recap, it does you no good to beat yourself up over past procrastination. Now and again you may fail by procrastinating again here and there. Nobody is perfect. We all have good days and bad days. The important part is to show up and try your best.
That little negative voice in your head doesn’t help you do that. Become aware of it and when you hear it, defuse it. You can do this by responding to it out loudly, by writing in your journal or go and do something else. Do whatever it takes to silence that voice. A great option is to prove it wrong by doing something productive. Over time that voice will speak up less and less, unless you indulge it by paying attention to it and letting it ruin your day.
Change That Dialogue
Next, it’s time to tackle the voice in your head that tells you it’s much more fun to do just about anything other than what you should be doing. We all have that voice. It’s why we end up procrastinating. We can get quite innovative when it comes to doing anything but the thing we don’t want to work on and that little voice is feeding us suggestions and cheering us on.
The best way to silence this particular voice into something more productive is with ‘yes, and’ statements. ‘Yes, watching my favourite show sounds like a lot of fun and I’m going to watch it after I get this task done.’ Use the suggestions this voice gives you as bribes if they sound like something fun. Otherwise, ignore them or put them off until tomorrow. Either way, when you listen to your inner voice make sure it comes from a place that will get you where you want to go. Your inner voice can be the best accountability partner you can find and the more you listen to your inner voice, pay attention and silence the negative, the more you will be able to trust it and yourself.
If you’re ready to make some real progress on your goals and need some help to stay accountable, take a look at our one to one coaching packages here: Learn More
