I write a lot about self-leadership and the importance of knowing what we want so that we can take responsibility for making the small choices every day that take us closer to the life we want to live. To sit in the driver’s seat for our own lives. It’s important. And, there’s also a paradox here. Sometimes we also need to let go and let ourselves be led by life. What wants to happen in your life? I want to share some perspectives on how we can find out, in the hope of inspiring you to start communicating with your own life, with a focus on listening.
Every Monday morning I check in with a friend where we facilitate each other to get in touch with our intuition. We start by landing in the moment, grounding in the body and letting out our breath. We listen into the body, to the place where we have previously had contact with our intuition and often start with the open question: Intuition, what do I need to know right now? Sometimes images, colors, emotions or words come. Sometimes it’s calm and quiet. What comes is less important than that I actually open up and listen, respecting that there’s more guidance to get than my fearful mind wants to admit.
I recently listened to an interview with Elizabeth Gilbert in Glennon Doyle’s amazing podcast We Can Do Hard Things. She told about a daily practice she has where she writes daily letters to life to get guidance in her life. She called it god, but I think it’s less important what name we give it. Maybe you want to call it love? The original question is always: What do I need to know today?
I recently attended a Transformational Presence in Leadership & Coaching program, created by Alan Seale. Transformational Presence is largely about being present and listening enough to not only survive but also thrive. Some of the main questions we keep coming back to are: What wants to happen now? Who do I need to be for that to happen? What do I need to do to make it happen? If you were to ask those questions to your life, what answers would you get?
What if you didn’t have to think of everything all the time? What if life wants something with you? What if there was a flow in your life, a flow that you could choose to follow? What would be possible then? If you were to stop fighting and instead listen in and follow flow?
This is where the paradox comes in. For me, following flow is not about becoming passive and being pushed here and there in life’s roller coaster. Nor is it about becoming a victim of your circumstances and not taking responsibility for what you need to take responsibility for. It’s not an excuse to not live, it’s an opportunity to actually live, really live, on your own terms. If you were to listen in more than you were listening out, what would life tell you?
Maybe you have a dream that longs to be fulfilled? Maybe you need to slow down to actually be able to hear what life wants with you? Maybe a truth lives in there that you avoid facing for fear of having to change things in your life? What would happen if you dared to face that truth and at the same time asked for help in taking the steps you need, at the pace you are able to make that change?
Life is kind. Your intuition would never guide you to doing something you’re not capable of doing. It doesn’t release more emotions than you can handle, right now. Love holds you. Do you dare to trust it?
Of course, I can’t guarantee that any of this is true. But I experience, very strongly, that my life becomes easier, grounded and more fun, the more I listen to what it wants with me. But none of us will know for sure for as long as we’re here. So, I repeat the important question I received from a friend the other day: The worldview you have chosen, does it serve you right now? If the answer is no, what would happen if you tried another worldview for a while? You can always go back whenever you want. But if it were the case that life wanted something with you, what would be possible for you then?
If you are curious to get in deeper contact with your own intuition, I offer both meetings with your intuition and intuitive coaching.