Advertising, friends, relatives, world leaders, religious leaders, scientists - the world is full of different voices telling us we should do this thing or that, or we should go in this or that direction. In the midst of this cacophony, it is very easy to forget we have our own inner voice or conscience, which is acutely aware of our life's purpose and always tries to prompt us in the direction of our ultimate happiness. In this article, we present some tips on how to bring this inner voice to the fore and act on it effectively.

1. Still the mind.

There is one primary obstacle standing in the way of us getting to know what we really want - our minds. Often we are under the illusion that our mind controls us, when in fact it is often the other way around, and we find ourselves unable to turn off this cacophony inside our head. Hence, if you are really serious about getting in touch with the inner voice, then you should set at least some time aside each day to still the mind through some form of meditation exercise and let this voice come through. There are many resources on meditation on this site with a wide variety of different techniques to get you started. Don't just do this practice as some kind of obligatory duty - try each time you sit down to have a new sense of searching for inner certainty. Don't expect results straight away - you have spent many years having this inner voice obscured by the mind, and that influence doesn't suddenly just go away overnight. The main thing is not to give up! Try to keep a sense of newness and spontaneity in your meditation, trying different techniques and taking up habits that strengthen your meditation.

2. Be patient

Often trying to listen to the inner voice can lead to a great deal of frustration - we make a wrong decision only to realise that in hindsight we could feel an inner prompting which we failed to recognise at the time. This is all part of the process of learning to distinguish the inner voice from the vacillations of the mind. Again, you cannot expect the inner voice to resurface immediately after so many years of atrophy - don't hold yourself up to some impossibly high standard of perfection but instead see yourself as a growing and evolving work in progress.

3. Distinguish the inner voice from emotional ebbs and flows

Often we get an inner thrill or excitement when we think of something - unfortunately, that doesn't necessarily mean that the idea is coming from deep within - instead it might be ust a temporary emotional fluctuation. How do you tell the difference? The soul's inner feeling is always something that has tremendous certainty about it, whereas an emotional feeling. Meditation teacher Sri Chinmoy once compared these emotional signals to a glass of water being filled hurriedly and spilling eveywhere whereas the soul's message is the same glass being filled slowly and surely

4. When an inner feeling comes, don't hesitate

When we get an inner feeling comes, there is often a great feeling of certainty and strength deep within. However, often the mind immediately jumps in on top of this feeling, wondering whether that really was an inner feeling, and it starts becoming anxious about the impending result of the action you are about to take. However, when you do put your inner impulse into action, you get an inner feeling of contentment regardless of whenever the course of action outwardly ends in success or failure - you know that you have done the right thing for yourself regardless.

5. Choose your friends wisely

Often our own self-image is very much dependent on what others think of us - and we are guided a lot by the opinions of those dear to us. However, often we find that when we begin to listen what we really want, it sometimes swims contrary to what others expect of us. Often it is only when we truly begin to live out our life purpose we see who is really 100% behind us, and loves us for who we really are - these are the people we should keep with us.

6. Courage and sincerity

It is highly likely that your inner voice will start by giving you insights into the closest thing at hand - namely, yourself - and not all of them might be to your liking! Often the inner voice is like a mirror which shows up the parts of our being which need to be perfected, and often it takes great courage and sincerity to acknowledge those imperfect parts of your being without overreacting and feeling that these shortcomings make you somehow a terrible person. The fact that you acknowledge and accept these flaws is the prelude to you getting together enough will-power to expel them from your being for good.