Let me tell you the story of the time I bypassed by own voice and inner knowing to follow someone else’s advice.

Actually, it has been 2 times. And it caused me a whole lot of suffering… but resulted in a whole lot of learning.

When I was 20, I met my first mentor, and he showed me a world I’ve never known existed. *cues – I can show you the world ~* song

The world I knew of before was limiting, practical, suffocating. I grew up thinking that the only way to success was to compete with others to get a corporate job and rise to the top.

Problem was – I wasn’t the brightest academically. I tried my best, I promise. I studied 3 times the number of hours as others, burned the midnight oil till my eyes could barely stay open.

This mentor of mine showed me the world of personal development. For the first time in my life, I realised – I CAN design my own life! I CAN honour my gifts and use them in other jobs. I started reading, listening to podcasts, journalling, applying to be a life-skills trainer in schools… I felt like I could really own my own business and create my own life!

But he had his own way of doing things. Being a traditional entrepreneur, he had a very fixed mindset of how a business is built, including the “right way” to run a business. To him, our youth is the time to hustle to the extreme, and it is expected to be up till 1, 2am if we were really dedicated. No travelling for holidays, no rest till you’re “financially free”. And I took it upon myself to follow his instructions to a T, because I WANTED to be successful SO BAD. I wanted to do it on my own terms.

Only, I didn’t realise it wasn’t at my own terms. I was doing it according to HIS terms.

Little rae didn’t realise that. With my new found “awareness” of the world, I went around preaching about the importance of hustle. I looked down on people who took breaks. I saw them as lazy. And with the same judgement I had on others, I placed on myself. I shamed myself for procrastinating. I felt frustrated when I couldn’t do what he said to a T.

Little did I know, that all this procrastination and resistance was my body saying “Stop! Listen to me! Think for yourself, you don’t want what he’s telling you to do!”

I didn’t listen to my body until I suffered multiple burnouts, some of my relationships suffered, and I even had a major eczema outbreak. It’s a mystery to me as to why I suffered that outbreak, but I suspect a key reason is the misalignment I was experiencing within.

Here’s the truth: we CANNOT avoid listening to our inner voice forever. The Universe will send you taps on your shoulder… and if we ignore it, a louder message will come.

This experience taught me a lesson loud and clear: Listen to Your Inner Voice.

And guess what? Even after years of awareness work, I fell into the same situation again. This time, someone else I look up to.

And it’s no one’s fault, not even my own. Our conditioning has taught us to listen to elders and to find the most efficient way to success.

It is on US to do the work to consistently build a relationship with our inner voice so that we can live life with authenticity.

And if you consider yourself a leader, ensure that you know what leadership entails. With greater influence, people value your opinion and advice even more. And for those who are less secured in their voice, they may bypass their own opinions and decisions in favour of yours. 

I just posted and IG post about this, which you may read here.

I’ll love to hear what you think, feel free to share your thoughts on Instagram or LinkedIn and tag me!

An Invitation

If you’re ready to rise as a leader by taking even more ownership in building a trusting relationship with your inner voice, I’m excited to be collaborating with to people I respect – the founders of wander + bloom. Having been personally transformed by their work, I’ve become a much stronger speaker and authentic communicator.

We have launched a 2 hour workshop instantly accessible to you, titled “Unravel the Story of You”, combining the spiritual and practical parts of owning your story.

You’ll leave the workshop:

• Knowing EXACTLY what’s holding you back from reaching your next level goals 
• Learn what it takes to truly live a more authentic and fulfilling life 
• Leave with practical ways to use your unique story to grow your career and business, especially in speaking, networking, and personal branding

This was a live workshop that happened a few months ago, and now you can buy the recording for self-study. The transformation you’ll receive goes way beyond the $39 ticket price.

For more details of the workshop / to sign up, CLICK HERE

If this message resonates with you, share it with a friend! They may sign up for this email list here. Wishing you the most wonderful weekend!

x Rae