“Your voice is a muscle.
You need it to rise to the occasion of your life.
That’s why it’s called speaking up.”
-Danielle LaPorte
I read this yesterday and my mind screamed “Hell yeah! That’s it. That’s the piece we’re missing.”
Speaking up. Sharing your opinion. Making a request. Voicing what you believe in. Asking for something more or different. Saying no. Saying yes. Saying something.
All of these things can feel scary as hell.
I work with brilliant women. Women who want to be leaders in their families or communities. Women who want to feel inspired and courageous. Women who want to bust open the old crap that has them boxed in and be unleashed.
It may look like working through a marital challenge, a parenting struggle, or a big transition. But it’s also, at it’s core, a returning to themselves.
It’s learning to love themselves, listen to themselves, and trust themselves… so they can find their voice and speak up.
My deepest wish for anything I write, speak, record, share, or post is that it encourage and inspire women to be more courageously themselves. Love themselves more deeply. Be more real, raw, and honest with the people in their lives.
That’s why I call it naked. It’s unpolished and true.
But it’s so damn scary to speak up. We fall back on old teachings and patterns.
“Be polite. Don’t make waves. Don’t let people down. Take care of others first. Wait your turn.”
Wishing, hoping, praying that it’ll all work out.
And then feeling so f*ing disappointed when it doesn’t.
And then eventually you’re not even disappointed anymore, because you’re not surprised.
You’re simply resigned to “the way things are.”
Maybe there are areas of your life where you’ve acclimated yourself to your own silence so much that you forget what it’s like to be heard.
But… if your voice is a muscle… then it’s possible to strengthen it again.
In this new year, when there’s so much out there about toning our abs and strengthening our resolve, what if you added your voice to the top of the list?
Just small “3 pound weights” to start. A request for more water at the restaurant. Asking for a day off from your boss. Giving your opinion about where to meet for happy hour with your girlfriends. Saying what you really thought about the movie or book.
Small acts lead to more strength. More strength lead to bigger acts.
Before you know it, you’re more fully “naked” than you thought possible.
You light up a room. Magnetic.
You’re a beautiful force of nature.
You’re in love with yourself.
You’re courageous beyond measure.
But first, it’s bit by bit. Re-igniting the child in you that had opinions and shared them freely (Ever hang out with a 2-year-old? They’ll tell you exactly how they feel and what they want.)
Your voice is a muscle. And it wants to be used.
Join us in the Facebook community for more “naked” conversations.
