Challenge your Whispers

You have to believe. Otherwise, it will never happen - Neil Gaiman.

It must have been a couple of years ago when I first had this ''absurd'' thought.

I want to write a Book.

Although it would be two years later until I truly committed and made it happen, when this thought first came to me I did what many of us do when we want to learn how to do something we've never done before.

I popped, ''How to write a book'' into google.

After scrolling through several articles, one tip kept popping up time and time again, so I figured it must be worth knowing.

The tip was this: be clear about WHO you are writing your book for.

Made sense, I thought to myself. But in the beginning, I wasn’t certain exactly who I was choosing to write this book for.

Then one day, it came to me… in the shower. Funny how great ideas and thoughts come to us in the shower, isn’t it? I'm clear now I'm writing this book for two people...

You and Me.

Upon realising this, I said to myself ''How can you be writing a book for yourself, Will''?

Then I got it. When I say I’m writing this book for me, more specifically it’s for a part of me. You see, there’s a small part of me, a whisper, which has convinced me I don't have what it takes to write a book. This whisper tells me I needn’t bother because nobody is going to read it. It asks, Who do I think I am to write a Book?

I know this whisper well. It's a whisper we all have, the voice of doubt and fear, who likes to stamp out the fires of our desires with what-ifs and yeah buts.

Yeah, but nobody will read your book.

What if it’s a load of mumbo jumbo?

Yeah but… you’ve never written a book before?

Is this sounding familiar? I thought so.

As you’ll come to learn by reading my book, for years, this voice would dominate my life, keeping me stuck. Crippling me with anxiety, dread and a constant feeling of helplessness.

Not anymore. I’ve come to learn the voice of Doubt and Fear we live with is a terrible predictor of just what is possible for us in our lives. So rather than obey this voice, I rebel against it. When I hear a whisper saying You can’t do that, you’re not good enough. I respond with a playful ‘’Let’s just wait and see’’. I would go so far to say as it’s our duty to challenge our fears and doubts and discover the boundaries of possibility for ourselves.

How come?

The unchallenged whispers become our truths.

I mean, if I had listened to the whisper saying nobody will read your book and not written this book then, obviously, nobody would have read the book! The unchallenged whisper would have become my truth. Not because the whisper reflected what is possible but simply because it would have gone unchallenged.

If you take away just one idea from my Book (I hope you don’t because there are many more powerful ideas to come) let it be this… Challenge your whispers!

Here are 3 Ideas for Challenging your whispers:

The 40% Rule.

The US Navy Seals have an interesting rule.

When your mind tells you that you can't go on, in truth, you're only at about 40% capacity.

As a runner, this is certainly true for me.

I've run greater distances than my mind convinced me I could.

Just think of times in your life when you pushed through, challenged your whispers, to discover more was possible.

Use the 40% rule in your life to remind you that your whispers are not always accurate predictors of your potential.

Ask yourself this question.

If it was impossible to ever experience this limiting thought (whisper) again, how would I live?

Without our limiting thoughts, we'd behave differently.

What if the only thing holding us back from achieving our goals was our thinking?

When you notice a whisper, ask yourself this question and remind yourself that action is more effective than thought at discovering what is possible.

Take Action.

Quite simply, take action!

Move forward.

Don't allow limiting thoughts and feelings to determine your future.

We can't action despite feeling ready. Despite feeling motivated. Despite feeling unconfident.

Get started. Take action towards your goals, even if it's only a small step each day.

This article is adapted from my Book's introduction.

Learn more about Becoming Unstuck: your simple step by step guide to taking charge of your life by clicking here.