All you have to do is listen.

"The quieter you become, the more you can hear.”

- Baba Ram Dass.

(Published through Ama La Vida's Words of Wisdom Newsletter - 12/7/21)

I felt invisible in my teenage years because I wasn't the top student, I didn't play any instrument or sports, and I couldn't speak much English. As a first-generation immigrant, English is my second language. I used to worry about people making fun of me for speaking incorrectly so much so that I avoided speaking in English at all. I was born an extrovert but behaved like an introvert due to fear and the language barrier. "I will fail and make a fool of myself" was often my excuse for not venturing outside of my comfort zone.

College and adulthood slowly changed me as I noticed that trying something new and showing up more helped me feel better about myself. This began the overcommitment phase of my life where participating in extracurricular activities and taking on additional responsibilities made me feel alive, and over-scheduling gave me a false sense of fulfillment. Then one day I found myself out of breath while driving home thinking about all the commitments I made. I pulled over to call one of my closest friends and cried about how exhausted I felt. 

That episode didn’t stop my desire for wanting to do more. Fast forward ten-plus years, I reached a career milestone that made me very proud of myself, but at the same time overwhelmed and miserable. I finally realized that I was trying to prove my self-worth by doing more and working harder than my counterparts. My inner critic constantly reminded me that I wasn’t good enough. I chose to listen to negative self-talk, my ego, and noise from the external world. As a result, I felt lost about who I was and what I wanted in life. I knew I needed change but I had no clue what that change had to be. I knew I wanted to be happier in my career, but I couldn’t develop a specific goal or action plan to achieve it.

During this time, I decided to get into yoga. Through my yoga practice, I learned to cultivate a sense of quietness instead of staying stuck in my head. I discovered that mindfully muting all the distractions (internal and external) allowed me to listen more intentionally and reassess myself from a place of love. This prompted me to explore other opportunities to transition out of my corporate job. My intuition led me to study yoga deeper and eventually became a yoga teacher. It also inspired me to pursue life coaching. Simply put, I decided to lean into what brought my soul joy and ease.

Sometimes the very thing you are looking for lies within you. Instead of racking your brain to find it, learn to become quieter. Let go of what others expect of you, silence your inner critic, and listen inwardly. If this concept is new to you, try sitting quietly with your eyes closed for ten minutes every day or doing activities that bring you into a meditative state where you get out of your headspace. It may not be easy to grasp this concept at first, and it will take some time to establish the new habit of quieting down, but over time you’ll be able to discover what truly serves you. 

Allow the noise to quiet and turn inward to hear your inner wisdom. Trust that you are resourceful as you are and all the answers you need are already within you. All you have to do is listen.