Do you need another voice? Does someone in your life hold a “trump” card? Do you bounce ideas off a trusted colleague, friend and/or spouse regularly? Do you respect their opinions?
I am so thankful for the voices in my life. But I wasn’t always thankful for them. Sometimes I’d try to shut them out and write them off and justify why my way was better. But even if we don’t always like them, we need other voices.
Why we need other voices:
- Our emotions can veer our lives and businesses off course. Be it fear, anxiety, or foolish optimism, we can wreck our judgement with tunneling down one path driven by our emotions. Outsiders may be better at seeing our situations more objectively.
- Our thoughts and ideas aren’t always the best or even good enough. Period.
- It’s best when we share our lives with others. When we allow others to speak into our decisions, we allow them into our lives. When we share our lives with each other, we grow together and learn from each other’s decisions. Everyone is better and richer when we learn from each other’s lives and mistakes instead of living in isolation.
Yet, we all already have voices in our lives – whether we want to listen to them or not. Because of this, we may not really see our need for another voice in our life. We may be working hard to shut out the ones we have already. However, there are some signs that make it evident that we to listen to another voice or two in our lives.
Ways you know you need another voice:
- You always think your way is the best. (It isn’t – we’re all fallible!)
- You cut people off all the time. (If we can’t hear others out, then we can’t hear their voice in our lives)
- You are set in your ways – your routine, your thought-process and your idea sources.
We all could probably use more quality voices speaking into our lives. However, most voices aren’t one-size-fits all. Though wise people are generally wise overall, it’s likely that you’ll have certain voices you listen to for business matters and others that you listen to for personal ones. In fact, we should listen to a variety of diverse voices, tease out the wisdom and gain from it.
We all need voices speaking into our lives – to keep us from falling on our faces and to speak truth into us when we do. This is a reminder to keep listening and discerning. The more we do, the more we will grow and prosper together.
Cover image info: Original, royalty-free image from Pixabay.
About the author: Lindsey Tolino comes alongside artisans, craftsman and people monetizing their passions to help them create healthy businesses. She shares tips and thoughts at ToBusinessOwners.com. Follow her on Twitter @LindseyTolino.