In the world of marketing and communications, finding the organization’s voice is crucial to communicate and build a relationship with target audience and customers. My career rotated around that mission and I was good at it. But finding my own voice took tremendous hard work, hard earned lessons and many trials and errors.
In basic terms, there’s a misconceptions that having a voice is reserved for artists, writers, poets and creative people. The uniqueness of their voice can dictate their success.
Digging deeper, having a voice is crucial in relationships, friendships, and marriages, where a major part in this partnership’s success lies in communication. In the corporate world, your voice is critical in your success, working in teams, leadership and mentorship. Your voice in these worlds is not only about leaning in and taking charge, but also the voice of the opinion you are participating-in actually reflects the truth of who you are.
Digging deeper than that, we are worried about how the world sees us, so we conform and learn to adapt by disappearing and blending in and somehow loosing our voice.
I cannot declare that I have completely found my voice, because the search never stops. It’s a constant returning to the essence of who I am…and who I am is never-endingly changing. Let’s not forget, we are not one-dimensional beings, so there’s a constant evolution to our voice. I am still learning.
We are worried how the world sees us, so we conform and learn to adapt by disappearing and blending in and somehow loosing our voice.
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Removing noise from my life and editing what I consume (books and online) has been the best kick-starter for me. It clears the mind when you become selective of whom you follow or give attention to. Without such distractions, my inner compass was back on track… and that clarity strengthened my voice. The mindset of diligently filtering what I consume because my mind and time are valuable is liberating.
Writing is a great enabler, because your writing voice is a refection of your inner voice. I once read that getting really objective when writing works wonders, and that is by seeing yourself from another perspective and writing about yourself in the third person can help your voice unfold.
The poet Billy Collins once said:
“Your voice has an external source. It is lying in other people’s poetry. It is lying on the shelves of the library. To find your voice, you need to read deeply. You need to look inside yourself, of course, for material, because poetry is something that honors subjectivity. It honors your interiority. It honors what’s inside. But to find a way to express that, you have to look outside yourself.
Read widely, read all the poetry you can get your hands on. And in your reading, you’re searching for something. Not so much your voice. You’re searching for poets that make you jealous. Professors of writing call this “literary influence.” It’s jealousy. And it’s with every art, whether you play the saxophone, or do charcoal drawings. You’re looking to get influenced by people who make you furiously jealous.”
I want to end with this: We are not disposable, so why would we abdicate our contribution to this world and to the people around us?
Today, I am trying to use my voice to write about the simplicity and importance of mindset in a world that is endlessly complicated.
I use my voice to write about individual thinking when there are many blind leading the blind.
I use my voice to write about educating the mind to reach contentment when the lack of it is fulfilling in many.
I use my voice to help you believe in the power of mindset to reach personal and professional success.
This is how I use my voice. How will you use yours?
xo
