What do you know of that little voice inside your head?
Technically, you likely know it’s called an “inner voice.”
But oftentimes it isn’t only a voice, is it?
It’s pictures. Feelings.
Ultimately, it’s the way that you communicate with yourself “inside.”
For a long time I’ve been deeply exploring the technology of what I perceive this inner voice to be.
What I believe it is, and what it isn’t, might be surprising to some of you.
Yet, here I only want to keep it real practical.
Is your inner voice positive?
People say all the time that you should listen to your inner voice.
My question is—which one?
Coz you certainly don’t want to listen to your inner voice that makes your life worse, do you?
The question here being—is your inner voice making your life better?
The answer for many of us of course is “sometimes.”
Sometimes that inner voice is “telling” you good things.
Like a good friend it’s helping you feel more resilient or happy or energized or focused or “let’s do this,” etc.
Yet, for many of us, perhaps too often your inner voice is more like what?
A most critical friend?
Task master?
Belligerent boss?
Mean-spirited? Grumpy? Fearful? Worried?
“Someone” inside your own head who beats you down?
What gives?
What’s the biology behind having a not-great-friend inside your head?
In the oh so scientific theories of evolution and the brain, what’s the biological advantage?
And why does that inner voice go from your best friend one moment, to a bully the next?
Again, here we’re not getting into that more advanced stuff I perceive hides the truth of humanity.
Here I just want to play a little what if with you and your inner voice!
What if you had a little Bond whispering in your ear?
This idea came to me from the photo you see above that I snapped last night running at Hudson Yards.
It was deliberate. I thought it would be a cool effect to shoot it this way.
But running back home with my now more enhanced black and gold running mask, that inner voice started telling me something I wanted to listen to.
It said, how would you be with a little more Bond in your ear?
Now, for you ladies, that might mean something different to us men.
And depending on the Bond you’re thinking, it might mean different things too.
Are we talking the Daniel Craig Bond from the picture above?
Sean Connery? Roger Moore? Brosnan? Dalton? My favorite, Lazenby?
Coz, who you see also changes the imagery and inner voice too, doesn’t it?
It’s a bit like the Hulk
An article that’s getting a lot of play on my website is this one—
I want to be like the Hulk too.
This tells me something about where people are at right now.
Maybe something about breaking free.
Finding more power.
Or perhaps wanting to be a little more out of control for a bit.
Just let loose and smash a little 🙂
However you see it, the Hulk, like Bond, is like having a different personality or inner voice in your head.
Perhaps a little more Rocky?
Running back from taking that picture I did 10 minutes on the stairs.
I will say that before our imprisonment running hadn’t been so much of my thing.
But with my gyms closed and this altitude-simulating running mask it has most certainly become much more of my thing.
Running up and down the stairs lungs burning, the picture that inner voice flashed me was Rocky running up the stairs.
See, as I said I won’t go into what I think this inner voice of ours is.
Yet I will say that there are awful inner voices you don’t want to listen to, and rock star inner voices that are good for you to listen to.
I see it like Aladdin’s lamp.
Just rub me the right way
You all know that when Aladdin rubbed his lamp a certain way, he got whatever he wanted.
And I think of your inner voice the same way.
When you rub yourself the right way (keep it above board, folks) you get the inner voice that matches it.
Meaning, if you’re gonna run up and down the stairs, that inner voice in your head will give you more Rocky.
Like if you’re gonna get all fired up and agitated, you’ll get more Hulk-like smash in your inner voice.
Whereas, if you’re gonna sit on the sofa all deflated.
Or mope around talking, thinking about how f’d up the world is.
Or how hard your goals are, or whatever.
Well, Aladdin in your head will fc you up too.
What’s your inner voice of the news?
When you tune into the so-called news of the world, does your inner voice—
Get you excited for what’s possible?
Have you feeling great about the state of the world and your life?
Feel optimistic about the future?
Talk up all the positive things about humanity?
Or is it like having a real depressed, fearful, whiney friend yelling in your ear?
Just ranting and raving about all the terrible things happening, and how dangerous and awful the world can be.
What pictures and feelings does this create inside you?
How does it direct your inner voice?
What would your Bond inner voice be?
The short movie I got in my head after the stairs and was running home was from Skyfall.
You might know the scene or if you don’t, you’ll get where I’m coming from.
It’s when Silva bursts into the courthouse to shoot M, and anyone else in his way.
Bond is a few minutes behind.
As the shooting is starting you have all these people streaming out of the courthouse…
While our chivalrous James Bond is like salmon in shining armor swimming against the stream, quickly running in.
What type of thinking leads someone to do this?
To, while everyone else is scrambling in fear, to just run into the fight to take care of business?
How might a little more of this Bond in your ear benefit you?
When you listen to this inner voice, what would it be telling you?
What inner voice do you listen to?
I know we’ve gone about this in a roundabout way…
But I also know you’ve come to perhaps expect this from me.
And hopefully you see the point I’m trying to make clearly.
That inner voice and pictures in your head.
Those feelings in your body.
They can make you weaker.
More tentative. Fearful. Lazy. Afraid. Hold you back.
Or they can serve to make you stronger.
To build you up.
Move you forward.
And only you can choose which inner voice you listen to!
btw, again, I want to say I’ve been listening to Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger while running which I’m sure has been part of bringing out more of this inner voice in me—you can still check out the free video program here.