Written by: Natalie Johnston, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Break through the noise. Learn to identify your thoughts, understand your fears, and hear your intuition. Take action, move forward, and live from your power place.
How to live from your power place.
So Natalie, how do I know if I even have a power place? And if so, I need to find it before I can live from it? First, you have to know that you do have the power. We all do. You were born with it. Your power is yours, it lies within, and nobody can take it from you, and the quickest way to give away your power is by adopting the assumption that you don't have any. You are the main character in your movie, you are the writer, the actor, and the director rolled into one. You are the creator of your own life and all that you experience. Okay, now we’ve established that we all have the power, how do you find it?
The answers always lie within.
Most of us will say that we know ourselves pretty well. We know what we like to eat, drink, wear, listen to, and what we like to do on the weekends. But how well do we really know ourselves? How much of what we do, or how we show up every day is truly us and how much of it is part of the avatar or programme that society has taught us to be? I know what you’re thinking. You’re bringing me more questions than answers here Natalie. A great place to start is self-reflection and going deep within. So how do you do this?
What if you could speed up by slowing down?
First, it's about creating time and space so you can truly hear your thoughts. Truly hear the messages that are trying to be communicated to you every day. This can be done in the format, at the time of day, and for a duration that is best for you. Whether it’s 5 minutes first thing in the morning, 10 minutes before you go to bed, whether it’s through meditation, journalling, running, or a lunchtime walk. Do whatever suits you, but make sure you do it. I get it, we’re all so busy every day going through our daily lives, but often that’s why we can’t hear our inner voices. When you add this practice to your daily or weekly schedule, you create the space, and the voice within will get louder and clearer. Don’t spend too much time trying to rationalise or explain what you hear, at first just listen.
How do I know what to do with all these thoughts?
Okay Natalie, but I have a million thoughts flying through my head every day. How do I know what’s what? Well have you noticed that when you sit in silence, it's never really silent, is it? Those voices that you hear inside your head are a running monologue, which is a mixture of your intuition, your fears, and let’s face it, probably your to-do list. You’ll know when it's your intuition talking, as it’s usually positive and you can identify it through those lingering thoughts or nudges, that gut feeling, the choice, decision, or action that doesn’t make any sense to your rational brain. When you learn to follow this voice, you will always be led down the right path. The other is your fear, which is attached to your ego. How do you know and distinguish this voice? Well, it’s usually negative. It usually tells you what will happen if you fail. If it goes wrong, the worst-case scenario. It tries to rationalise your intuition and bring you back to safe ground. Think of it like the party pooper that always wants to pop your balloon. Here’s the thing, our intuition can often scare us, so we try to rationalise it. For instance, you innately know deep down when it's time to quit that job, or relationship, start a new hobby or move postcodes, but your fear keeps you stuck. What if I can’t pay my bills? What if I don't find anyone else? What if I’m awful at this? Or what if I don’t make new friends and I end up lonely? They are all fears.
When you create dedicated space and time every day to understand your thoughts, understand your fears. You can decipher pretty easily between the two. The third is your inner monologue and usually, it's a running to-do list. I’ve got to drop Jessica off at the nursery, I have to get back to my boss about that presentation, and I need to pick up the groceries after work. When you create your own dedicated time and space, these thoughts are easily identifiable. For the duration of time you’ve allocated for this mindfulness practice, actively choose not to focus on these types of thoughts and tell them to take a back seat. So now you know what all the noise is and who’s talking, let’s get back to finding your power.
Finding your power place
Okay, you’re now hearing your intuition, aware of your fears and you’ve told the monologue to go for a cup of coffee for 10 minutes. First, talk to your fears. Ask yourself questions, why are you showing up now? What's causing this feeling? What lies beneath this? What are you trying to tell me? What will I do if the worst-case scenario happens? Give your fears space, and time, acknowledge them and you’ll find when you’ve had a chat with them, they don't feel so big, bad, or intrusive. Now you’re intuition. Learn to listen to the nudges and follow them. Delay the time between hearing your intuition and action. Don’t try and rationalise, weigh up the pros and cons, just do. The more you practice doing this over time, the easier this will become. Many of us don’t take action at all or delay it which results in us not taking advantage of divine timing. When you are inspired to take action, don’t think. Just do. This is called your flow, living in alignment or finding your power place. You will know you are in flow or ‘power place’ because you will feel excited and energised. You will feel light and free. It will feel effortless, meaningful, and purposeful. This is it! You’ve found your flow and you’re taking action that is aligned with your highest and best self. It truly resonates with your soul's purpose and makes your heart sing.
In today's society, very few of us listen to our own advice, our nudges, or our inner knowing. We live in a world where we constantly seek approval from others, we pick a stereotype, whether it be the corporate employee, the entrepreneur, the mum, the dad, the artist, the musician, or whoever it may be. We find the stereotype and then we fit the mold. We do what everyone else is doing. We fit in and do what's expected of us.
Ask yourself, who am I really?
Before you say I don’t know, as a coach I believe every person is resourceful, powerful, and whole.
Give yourself the grace to go on the journey of self-discovery. The path isn’t always easy and you’ll be met with many battles along the way (a mixture of internal and external) but when you find it, your power place, your life will feel dreamy. There will be challenges that enable your growth, but no resistance.
Life isn’t meant to be hard, we as humans make it hard by staying in jobs, relationships, friendships, or places that we shouldn’t be in. We keep ourselves stuck while we listen to our fears and try to fit into society's norms and ideals. Guess what? For a lot of people, it isn’t ideal. It isn’t their mission and it isn’t why they're here. Easy choices, hard life. Hard choices, easy life.
If you take anything from this article, please let it be this. Take the time to figure out who you are and what you really want, and then listen. Follow it, take action, and stop asking others, because the only person you should be asking is yourself. If this resonated or you have questions, feel free to get in touch with us on any of the following platforms.
Follow TTM Coaching on Instagram, Linkedin, and TikTok, or visit our website. Or you can find me, Natalie on Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok.
Natalie Johnston, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Natalie Johnston is Founder of TTM Coaching. Natalie is an accredited coach, BA graduate, speaker and experienced marketeer. She has spent her working career in Scotland, North America, and London. TTM Coaching was born from her belief that we can all become the best version of ourselves and when we do the work on the inside, the impact is felt on the outside, creating the ‘ripple effect’ of positive change. Fuelled by her desire to ensure the workplace, of which we rely on to meet so many of our physical and psychological human needs, is a place where individuals can grow and thrive. Natalie dedicates her time to working with individuals and organisations to unlock their full potential.
