Are you the type of person who likes to ask for others’ opinions before making a big decision? Do you like to weigh all the facts and possible outcomes ahead of time? Do you ever get to the point where you have been given so many opinions from so many people that you’ve lost sight of who you really are and what you really want?
That’s what I’ve gotten myself in to, and I am now screaming for Advice Detox!
In all fairness, I needed advice when I started out. My background is as a caregiver and for the last 20 years I have helped all kinds of people in many areas of their lives. Now, while I am a kickass health and wellness consultant, inspirer, and coach, the whole entrepreneur persona with online programs and international speaking gigs is actually quite new to me and even more daunting. So I needed advice. And I asked for it—a lot. And despite the fact that I sought advice from some amazing people, I have recently gotten to the point where I can’t hear my own voice.
When to know if you have too many helpers
- Your life coach and two business coaches, your best friend, your mom, your co-workers, your husband, your neighbor, your sister and your children have all weighed-in on your last decision.
- You are making decisions that don’t sit well with your gut feelings or intuition.
- You have at least three “shelf-help” programs that you have not followed through on. I define shelf-help as books or online self-study programs meant to add value to your life somehow, yet, you don’t actually read them and do the work, and therefore, they are only collecting dust on your shelf.
- You have watched so many free webinars that your inbox overflows with newsletters and email offers from the experts you follow.
How to do an advice detox
- Part of detoxing is taking a rest period, which means you will take a break from all of the information gathering you usually do, including asking your friends and family for their opinions.
- Keep only one trusted person as your sounding board. This person will hold the space for you so that you can hear your own thoughts and come to your own decisions. In my experience, this is the best place to use a coach because friends and family can often be blinded by their own agendas.
- Sit down with your journal in a quiet space and really experience and tease out your emotions around your decisions in order to ensure that your decisions align with your higher self.
- Go unsubscribe crazy! First, choose the three experts whose philosophies resonate the most with your core values and stay on their newsletter list. Then, unsubscribe from all the rest.
One thing to keep in mind about a detox is that it is not a permanent lifestyle; it is a reset period that enables you to make different choices when you get back to everyday life. So I am not saying you can never ask your mom for advice ever again, or that you can never subscribe to another newsletter. Just take a bit of a break and then start back with fresh eyes and a loud and clear inner voice.
Have you ever experienced information overload and lost touch with your own voice? Let me know how you found your way through the noise in the comments below.