The Importance Of Talking To Yourself

When was the last time you talked to yourself or heard your voice channeling ideas back to you? I’m not one to talk out loud so I spend a lot of time processing and formulating thoughts and ideas internally. What happens with that is our brain seems to have a way of tricking us into thinking we have formed the perfect script when in fact, reality is far from the movie we played out in our mind. It never is.
After some trials, I discovered what works well in processing information or formulating new ideas in solo is to record and hear your thoughts play back, like a mirror self. Using the voice memo feature on my iPhone, I have benefited much from the technique and here’s how:
Verbalizing your thoughts helps you connect more dots and uncover new inspirations
When you begin to verbalize your ideas to yourself, you are both talking and making connections to form meaning for the thing you’re trying to communicate. Your brain is trying to connect the accumulated experiences and knowledge you have to formulate your perspectives. During the process, you’re most likely to catch yourself deviating from believes that you thought were true while in your head but somehow different when you talk it out. Applying mindfulness to the experience; by paying attention to what you say and feel without judgments, you become more receptive to possibilities and inspirations. This is because most people are fearful of revealing their true selves trying to meet society’s expectations and naturally on a defense to fight or flight when judged. By practicing more of hearing your thoughts in its most raw form as a recording, you’re letting your authentic self be known and while allowing creativity and imagination to flow intrinsically.
Playback can help you learn and challenge who you are
When you reprocess your original thoughts via playback of a recording, it somehow helps you be more detached. It’s as if your brain treats your playback thoughts differently from when it was only inside your head. Perhaps a playback becoming an outside stimuli is channeled differently. Hearing your words playback can help you identify or even question why you say the things you said and uncover a side of you that you may not have known. This is particularly the case when you utilize the 5 Why Method. The idea of 5 why’s was created by the Toyota engineer, Taiichi Ohno, as a method to dig into cause-and-effect to bring more clarity on a problem. It involves the subject asking why and drilling down the answer with another why question. Here’s an example of how I use it to challenge my own thinking and amplify my curiosity for what drives my beliefs:
Q: Why is it important for me to live out my authentic self?
A: I believe if we’re not authentic to who we are meant to be, we can’t truly be content with life.
Q: Why do I think being authentic will bring more contentment in life?
A: If you are living out your authentic feelings, thoughts and beliefs, you’re more likely to avoid doing things and making decisions that are in conflict of who you are.
Q: Why is doing things in conflict of our authentic self a problem?
A: When you’re making choices in conflict of your emotions and thoughts, you’re preventing yourself from unfolding your inner talent and passion.
Q: Why is it so important to find a passion?
A: It is because our passions fuel the internal contentment and drive to propel us forward to excel in an area that brings purpose and meaning.
Q: What is finding purpose and meaning important?
A: It helps to bring closure to our life’s existence and the importance of it.
Begin recording your thoughts and ideas as a way to process your beliefs and learn more about yourself. I find it especially important to do because we’re taught to always look outward for answers. We have been unteaching ourselves to experience who we are and find meaning in our thoughts and emotions. Start paying attention through mindful observations and tune in to amplify your authentic voice.
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