Having had a big mouth as a kid and never knowing what SILENCE was, I often found myself in the principal’s office for being disruptive, when all I was doing was, with rare exception, was looking to have my voice heard. I meant no disrespect; I just had a lot of energy and stuff to say – So I said it. No filter – Just let it go.
Now as an adult and a full time Career Coach, I am a huge fan of speaking your mind. I’m old enough and smart enough to pick and choose the right place and time, but if I have something to say, I’m going to speak up. There is value in silence and there is value in AMPLIFYING what’s on your mind. Timing should drive that. Good common sense can help that too.
When you need something, when you need to get something done, when people are counting on you, when there is a deadline, when objectives are to be achieved, you will need to avoid the absence of sound, the absence of noise – You will need to stand up, speak up, communicate and MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD.
You can always be strategic about this. Learn to use your volume control and position things with just the right audible level. Silence and being too loud can get you nowhere.
A soft voice is a good thing but sometimes so is a loud voice. Learn how to deliver. This will, for the most part make people listen and process what you are saying and once you have them listening, you are more apt to get things done.
At the end of the day, with rare exception, SILENCE will get you nowhere.
We all have stories. We all have responsibilities. We all have ‘stuff’ to do. We all NEED to get things done. We all have the checklist, and the goal is to use one of our biggest gifts to do that – COMMUNICATION.
Muting our thoughts cannot be healthy. But on the other hand, SILENCE can help us be reflective. It can help us with self-discovery and cultivate self-awareness. So, give thought to the art of silence. When best to engage and when best to crank up the volume. We want our voices heard and it should be, but we also need a moment of SILENCE.
