Finding Your Unique Voice

Hi!

Hope you are having a great week! Will you please do me a solid and take a second to celebrate with me!? I just want to soak up the moment of being able to hold The Ellie Project in my hands! I’m often guilty of doing, doing, doing, and not stopping to be proud of the things I’ve accomplished. Can you relate? It’s easy for me to point out what I’m not accomplishing, but sometimes we have to stop and appreciate what we have accomplished.

If I’m honest, getting to travel the country to talk about the inspiration that Andrew was, tell others about his books, and finish The Ellie Project has been so fulfilling for me. This has been in part because I knew that’s what Andrew truly wanted, but also because it’s given me such a singular focus and mission– one I am deeply passionate about sharing. I’ve also experienced some sadness now that the book is finished because it is probably the last of Andrew’s art I will be sharing with the world.

Doing this work, in some ways, has allowed me to keep Andrew’s spirit present and alive in my life. I feel like we are still co-creating and I don’t want that to end. I truly feel the time I’ve spent sharing Andrew’s art and story has been growing and developing me to share my own unique voice with the world through public speaking, my passion for coaching, and for writing books.

It’s scary to put yourself out into the world to be fully seen, but it’s even scarier to keep your unique gifts and voice to yourself. Each of us have a special story and a voice that is meant to be heard. It is our mission to find the courage inside of ourselves to share our individual voices and to use them for good. Here are three things I am doing to connect to my unique voice.

1. Tap into your inner artist – I never would have considered myself to be creative until several years ago, during one of my life coaching sessions, my coach told me I was creative. It was at that moment I opened my mind to the possibilities of what being creative looks like. I always thought it meant “artistic,” but I learned there are several forms of art and the art I’d been doing my whole life that came naturally to me was writing. It came so naturally I never considered it a creative outlet. Once I picked up writing again after a five-year sabbatical, I started being able to see through my writing what I cared about, what I talked about, what mattered to me, and in those discoveries I started to find my voice. What is your creative outlet? What do you do that makes you feel most expressed?

2. Be a kid – I started thinking back to the things I did as a kid to express myself, because that was the time before I allowed judgement to come into the picture and hold me back from expressing my voice. I loved creating story lines with Barbie, pretending I was an Olympic gymnast on my balance beam, reading self- improvement books, and putting on dance and singing performances for my parents (God bless them for sitting through all of them). All of these creative expressions still reside within me today, deep down in their essence, the form just looks different. I still love creating story lines through writing my personal story, dreaming big, reading self-improvement books, and, of course, El and I sing and dance around the house. I’m even being repaid for putting my parents through those long performances by getting to sit through Ellie’s long performances (which honestly I get the biggest kick out of). So what did you like to play when you were a kid and how do those things relate to what you currently enjoy doing?

3. Take the leap – I mostly learn by doing. The perfectionist in me wants to get it perfect before I share anything with the public, but I learn best when I just jump out there and start taking action. For me, my biggest leap has come in the form of public speaking. I didn’t have much experience with it before I put myself out there to be a keynote. I wasn’t completely clear on my message, but the more opportunities I’ve had to speak, the more clear I’ve become on my unique message. What big leap do you want to take that will stretch and challenge you to get clearer on your individual message to the world?

Finding your voice is a constant evolution– as you grow your message will grow and develop with you. The key is to be conscious of the reoccurring themes in your life and to pay attention to the feedback you receive from others. Be especially aware of the messages people say they receive from you or what information they specifically come to you for. This will all help guide you toward finding your own unique voice.

What are some things you’ve done in your life to connect to your voice and passion? Please share in the comments below.

As a coach, this topic fires me up and excites me about going deeper to help you truly find and use the message you feel called to share. If this resonates with you please contact me at [email protected] to set up a Be Heard coaching session (www.baileyheard.com). I’m passionate about helping you grow to your full potential. Find your voice and use it for good to be heard. Love and Blessings.

P.S. Team Ellie Project is mailing out The Ellie Project this weekend!!! Would love for you to take a picture with your book once you get it and post it on my Facebook wall if you are willing! Hope you love it! Thank you again for purchasing it and if you haven’t yet gotten your copy, go to the-ellie-project.myshopify.com/.