The powerful inner voice
The “power of focus” is a topic l have written on many times in this column. This is because focus is everything; once you make up your mind to do something, and strongly commit to it, somehow, you find the energy to make it happen.
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Yes, you do it! In the August 14, 2021 edition, for example, I wrote a reflective piece on the power of focus in which l used my own journey in life as a peg. Significantly, l relied on time-tested teachings of the American author and educator, Stephen Covey. In his book, "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People", Covey explains in easy-to-understand language, how one can navigate through life in an effective way if you commit to certain habits. And he does his story-telling by drawing on the experiences of others. Hear him: "An abundance mentality springs from internal security, not from external rankings, comparisons, opinions, possessions or associations". How rich.
Anyway, this is the point where l draw the curtains on the introduction -the power of focus- and bring in the next scene, which is the powerful inner voice. I introduced the power of focus first in order to create the link between the two and how they or must work in tandem. The inner voice, I have come to understand, has a strong impact on our power to focus.
In fact, when you lose the inner voice, you lose your balance in life. In some situations, people have lost their sound inner voice and have had psychological issues.
So what does inner voice mean? In some contexts, it is also referred to as “internal dialogue,” or “the voice inside your head”. In fact, scientists and psychologists describe the inner voice as our internal monologue, the result of certain brain mechanisms that cause you to "hear" yourself talk in your head without actually speaking and forming sounds.
That is intrapersonal communication involving just you, the monologue—the dialogue with oneself.
The impact of the inner voice is that when you think about positive issues, you are certainly going to attract positive things and the opposite is also true, so why would you think of negative things to depress yourself when positive things would liberate you?
This, in part, also explains why some are more successful than others even though we are all exposed to the same number of hours in a day, and days in a year.
Those with positive outlook are able to get their creative juices running at all times and are able to recombine elements already known to exist but wrongly assumed to be unrelated to create new things. In effect, they are creative.
I hope you are following where l am heading to, right? Well, the basic idea is that you need to be positive minded in order to stay focused at all times.
Many a time, we are drawn into the complexities of life to the extent that we feel depressed or dejected. Around us may be issues that bring us discomfort. Of course, as humans, we can never escape the intricacies of life. The weather will change from sunny to cloudy; from a season of rain to dry season, and from abundance of food to famine.
We may have in-country poverty, just as we have rich and poor nations. These issues are external and do have impact on all of us but most of the time, we do not have what it takes to control the external forces or factors. What we have as humans is the ability to mitigate and respond to the situation.
Often times, it is not the situation that brings us down but the way we respond to it. In fact, if you know that seasons are not situations that you can control, why don’t you prepare for every season adequately? Can you wear summer clothes in winter? Certainly not!
The freezing temperatures in winter will kill you if you wear light clothes during this period. But sometimes, it is not the case that we deliberately decide to be at odds with the times. No, Often times, we do not respond appropriately because of our lackluster attitude mostly influenced by our negative thoughts. And what is attitude? It is habit forming.
As Covey explains, effective living is about choices and you must make the effort to become a highly effective person; someone who wouldn’t allow any part of their life to be out of sync. Of course, it is not always easy and won’t be easy when you start to apply the principles.
What is clear also is that, once a conscious effort is made to change a particular course for the better, results are always achieved if the path is diligently followed.
So start telling yourself positive things. Don’t see mountains when in fact it is an ant hill in front of you. Don’t claim the negatives at all times. Yes, sometimes it is society that makes things look awry.
The news we read or listen to, the people we associate with, and even our religious associations can hinder our understanding of the world around us. But as the world around us is defined and some patterns may be identified over the course of time, the inner world is often conflicted. And once the inner voice is not properly tuned, we hear the wrong voices!
You may behave in an erratic manner when your private logic, influenced by the debate won within the self, directs you wrongly. It is for that reason that we are able to discern strange phenomena from normal ones. What indeed are you telling yourself?
In other words, is your monologue influenced by negative thoughts or positive ones? It is a matter of choice and there are opportunities available if you feel your thoughts are suicidal. In fact by suicide, l just don’t mean physically taking your own life. Not only that as you may take decisions that could be suicidal in the end.
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In my communal work to give back to society for the unmerited favour that l have had, l have come across people who have become suicidal because they signed up to a loan facility that they did not think through properly.
There are various things that you need to consider when you need to sign on for a loan facility. Your inner voice is crucial to your well-being so develop the habit of speaking or thinking about positive things always.
Get the inner voice right and you will remain focused on the things that matter to you. That way, you will become one of the highly effective people in this world.
Botabil@gmail.com