5 Signs You’re Ready to Follow Your Own Voice

Have you noticed some changes in your thinking lately? Are you tired of the same old routine?

“If a professional loses the love of work,” wrote artist Ada Bethune, “routine sets in, and that’s the death of work and life.”

“It’s not that some people have willpower and some don’t,” writes Dr. James Gordon, founder and director of The Center for Mind-Body Medicine. “It’s that some people are ready to change and others are not.”

Maybe you’re feeling it’s time for a change. Maybe you’ve been inspired, and are feeling a new surge of energy. Maybe you’re just tired of living someone else’s version of the good life.

Whatever the case, how do you know if you’re ready to take the plunge and start following the wisdom of your own inner voice?

You no longer care what others think. Whereas you may have made past decisions based on the opinions of others, you’ve gotten tired of that, having reached a point in life where you care more about your opinion than anyone else’s. You realize that when you come to the end of your life and look back, you’ll care most about what you think of what you accomplished than what anyone else might say about it.
You’ve been there, done that, and it didn’t fulfill you. Maybe you tried drugs, drank a lot in college, or experienced a food addiction. Perhaps you spent years towing the corporate line with a cell phone permanently attached to your ear. Maybe you’ve lived your life doing everything your spouse thought you should do. You’ve tried to distract yourself in a variety of ways, and you’re tired of it all. Time for something real. Time to devote your energy to something that truly matters to you.
You want more. You’ve accomplished everything “they say” you’re supposed to accomplish. Successful job, great family, nice house, a couple cars, two weeks vacation in Hawaii every year. You may have found fulfillment in some of these things, but inside, you feel like something is still missing. You want your life to mean more, and you’re ready to take action to make that happen.
Something has shaken you up. Maybe someone you know died young. Maybe you lost someone close to you, got laid off from your job, or went through a serious illness. Whatever it was, it made you realize that life is short, and you don’t have unlimited time to make your dreams come true.
You can no longer ignore your inner voice. It’s been speaking to you for years, but lately, it’s getting louder. It comes out in your dreams, whispers to you in the morning, and practically screams at you when you turn away from your goals. When you don’t do what it says, you feel lousy. A fraud. Weak! You can’t stand it anymore.

“Here is a good rule of thumb to follow,” writes Rita Louise, Ph.D., founder of the Institute of Applied energetics. “If your inner voice, those inner promptings that urge each of us into action lasts more than a week, i.e., you find the same thoughts and feelings coming back to you over and over again, then know that this is your inner voice looking for expression. Trust the information you are receiving, and use it to guide you into action.”