Hello, it’s Tiff, and I have a question for you. Have you ever had a dream or an idea that you were super excited and passionate about, but that nagging voice tells you that you can’t do it? It says there’s no way this will work out (maybe for other people, but not for you). That tiny whisper of a voice that chips away at your confidence and makes you doubt yourself? Yeah, that’s the one.

Well, It’s time to silence that inner critic, my dear friends, and start listening to the one voice that will never steer you wrong – your intuition (or what Oprah likes to call your God voice). That inner voice that guides you towards your purpose and your passions. That inner voice that always uses the wants and desires of your highest self as its North Star. In this blog post, we’ll explore how to shift from fear to trust, from doubt to confidence, and start living a life where your intuition is your compass. So strap in, my friends – we’re about to go on a journey of self-discovery and self-trust that will transform your life!

So how do you recognize when it’s your inner critic speaking versus your God-given intuition? Here’s a simple way to know which is vying for your attention. Your inner critic speaks from a place of fear and negativity, and your intuition speaks supportively from a place of love and positivity. The critic is always looking for a way to further the agenda of a negative belief system. For instance, if you think you are unworthy of success, the inner critic will search through your memories and recall instances where you were unsuccessful to back up that thought process. Your intuition will bring to mind all those instances where you were successful and bring those to mind and use your daily life to support those thoughts. How we feel about a situation and the outcome depends on who we allow to get in the driver’s seat and take the wheel.

Going through life constantly listening to your inner critic can be harmful in many ways. It holds us back from growth, limits our learning, makes decision-making difficult, and leads to negative self-talk and reduced self-esteem. When we constantly listen to the negative voice within, we cannot accept our achievements, and we become more prone to harsh self-judgment and negative self-talk when we experience failure. And failure is something that we experience; it isn’t who we are. Now don’t get me wrong, the inner critic can have a protective function in certain situations (like when making decisions about your safety and imminent danger); but in our daily lives there are many more downsides to constantly listening to this narrative.

So now that we know what the inner critic is, what it sounds like, and how it affects us, let’s talk more about intuition. Intuition is that inner voice or instinctual feeling that guides you toward what’s right for you. It’s that deep knowing that can’t be explained with reason or logic but comes from a place of inner wisdom. That gut feeling lets us know when something feels off, or we’re on the right path. Intuition is your inner compass, pointing you toward your true desires and purpose. It can be easy to overlook your intuition as just a random thought or feeling, but it’s a powerful tool that can help you make better decisions, trust yourself more, and live a more authentic life. Here are some ways that living an intuitive life can affect us:

• #1 Improved Decision Making: Intuition helps you make more accurate and informed decisions by tapping into your inner wisdom and guiding you toward the best possible choice.

• #2 Greater Clarity and Focus: Listening to your intuition helps you get clear on your desires, values, and goals, giving you a sense of direction and purpose in life.

• #3 Increased Self-Trust: Trusting your intuition can lead to greater self-confidence and self-trust in your abilities and decisions.

• #4 Enhanced Creativity: By tapping into your intuition, you can tap into an endless stream of creativity to help you solve problems, develop new ideas, and innovate.

• #5 Greater Authenticity: Your intuition guides you towards a life more aligned with your true desires and purpose, leading to greater fulfillment and authenticity.

• #6 Reduced Stress and Anxiety: Listening to your intuition helps you make decisions with more ease, reducing stress and anxiety associated with decision-making.

Listening to your intuition can help you live a more fulfilling life, make better decisions, and strengthen your relationship with yourself. It can help you overcome self-doubt and achieve greater purpose, joy, and abundance. Now here’s the good part! Here are some practical ways to turn down the volume of the critic and tune into our intuition.

# 1 Practicing Mindfulness

Mindfulness is going about life using all your senses and paying attention to what may seem mundane. It’s about not just washing the dishes but noticing the sensation of the water on your skin, the temperature of it, how slick the soap feels, and what it smells like. It’s about walking to your parking place and noticing the color of the sky, how the sun feels on your face, the bird looking for food on the ground, and if it smells like rain is coming.

When you can get in tune with all the beautiful things around you at all times, you can notice all the wonderful things that exist inside us all and appreciate them. And when you appreciate something, you notice it all the time. Then the self-talk will come from a more positive and supportive place that sees how awesome you are and what you are capable of.

#2 Keeping a Journal

There are many incredible reasons for keeping a journal, and I’m sure you may have heard them all. However, I think it’s essential to get the critic out of the driver’s seat. When you write down your feelings of doubt and insecurities, and even when you read them back to yourself, you sometimes will notice how silly they sound.

A good question to ask yourself is whether or not the way you feel is fact or fiction. Do you have legitimate reasons for feeling this way, or is it because of something you made up in your head or based on an arbitrary look that you think you may have gotten from a particular person when you were in high school or on your job? It does help to “get it all out,” and if you don’t have someone you trust or access to a professional counselor, you can always tell yourself, your journal, or your God.

#3 Meditation

I am a hardcore believer in the benefits of a daily meditation practice. The benefits of meditation extend so much further than I can express. It is so helpful when it comes to tuning into our intuition. Meditation is taking the time to be still and silent, slow down those thoughts and voices in the head, and make a conscious decision about what thoughts you will give attention to.

Some practitioners like to imagine their negative self-talk phrases written on clouds in a clear blue sky and watch them fade away while bringing into focus positive self-talk phrases. I’ve practiced imagining them floating down a stream, never to be seen again. I’ve also pictured the words in my mind’s eye and watched the positive phrases amplify and grow more prominent and the negative ones disappear. Whatever works for you to help bring your awareness to the good talk and supportive words while giving little attention to the negative ones will be beneficial.

#4 Get Creative

One of my favorite ways to tap into my intuition is to get creative. Whether it’s painting, writing, cooking, crocheting, or singing; being creative allows for a direct line to our creator, the one whom all intuition and creativity flows. Oftentimes, when we get into a creative mode and we’re in the zone and doing what we love to do the most, everything sort of falls away and we are there in the moment with the canvas, the page, or the dancefloor. This is where the magic happens!

When everything else falls away, in that moment you are what I believe to be the closest to God. You can focus soley on what’s happening in the present and your thoughts quiet enough to let true creativity come through and speak to us through our work. Your intuition is what tells you where to place the next foot in front of the other, the next adjective and adverb, and how much of what ingredient would make the next recipe perfect.

Get into this moment as often as you can and train your intuition muscle.

#5 Exercise

I don’t like exercising. I don’t like it at all. I’ve tried to like it, but I like how it makes my mind and body feel so I’ll settle for that. Exercising, or doin some type of physical movement always helps me to not only calm my anxiety but to tap into my intuition. This is because I can’t focus on the inner critic because I’m too busy on focusing on just getting through the last ten minutes of this cycling class.

When you aren’t constantly listening to an inner voice telling you what you can’t do and shift the attention to the voice that’s saying “you can do this”, “just one more mile”, “last rep, you can do it;” it does a lot for your inner narrative.

This is why I prefer working out in the mornings versus the evenings if my schedule allows, because I’ll take all of that positive self-talk and healhty self image throughout the rest of my day.

My friends, we’ve discussed the importance of silencing your inner critic and listening to your intuition. By taking control of your thoughts and focusing on the voice of your intuition, you can make better decisions, trust yourself more, and move towards a life of greater purpose and fulfillment. Remember, your intuition is your inner guidance system that connects you to your inner wisdom and higher purpose. It can help you navigate the ups and downs of life, leading you toward greater authenticity, creativity, and fulfillment. I encourage you to also read https://tiffanynickole.com/2023/08/05/level-up-your-year-mastering-intentional-goal-setting-for-a-thriving-second-half-of-2023/ to give you some other pointers on mastering the new goals your’re setting for yourself after you’ve done away with that pesky voice in the head.

So, let us commit to tuning out the negative voice and trust our intuition instead. Your intuition is your ally, guiding you toward the life you deserve. I invite you to take a moment right now to connect with your intuition, meditate, and ask yourself, ‘What does my intuition tell me?’ and trust it. Let us embrace the power of our intuition and lead lives guided by purpose and joy. Thank you, my friends, for joining me on this journey.

If you found this post helpful, please share it with a friend who might need to hear this message. Remember, we all have the power within us to trust ourselves and lead the lives we deserve. Let’s support each other in this journey toward self-discovery and self-trust.