It’s time to speak up more. You have your own thoughts and you have a voice to speak them. If you don’t speak up when you feel like you should, then you are responsible for the outcome – nobody else. Take ownership of your happiness, health, and success, and speak up more! The following 6 quotes can help you overcome your fears and inspire you to speak your mind.
1. Forget About Your Popularity
I will never hold back my unpopular opinion just to keep followers. I will always speak my mind. – Terrence K. Williams
You don’t want to run around saying things constantly that hurt people’s feelings or make you look like a jerk. But, you can’t worry about whether people or not will like or unlike you because of something you feel you need to say.
When you emotionally mature, you realize that the people who like you for you are who matter, and you stop trying to tell people only what they want to hear. You start to speak up more for your happiness.
If you afraid to speak up because other people may unlike you in some way, then remember that if they unlike you for you, then you don’t want them in your life anyway.
2. You Won’t Get Where You Want Unless You Speak up More
If I listened to a man every time I wanted to speak my mind, I wouldn’t be leading my own band and rock n’ rolling into the stratosphere. – Dorothy Martin
People may tell you that you aren’t supposed to speak up more. People may try to scare, belittle, or bully you into keeping quiet. But, if you listen to these people, then you won’t get to live the life you want to live.
Don’t let anyone make you feel like you are wrong for speaking up or speaking your truth. That’s giving them the key to your life.
Why should anyone else have control over your life? If you give them control, they will keep you stuck in a life you don’t want to be living in, and you have no one to blame but yourself.
3. You May Never Get The Chance To Speak Up Again
Never be afraid to speak your mind. If you don’t say it you might not ever get the chance again. – Tiffany Alvord
This truth is what helped me to speak up more. When I have something important to say, I want to make sure I say it because I may not get an opportunity to say it again.
For instance, if you don’t tell someone you love how you feel, and one of you dies or moves on with your life, then it will be too late. And that can have some negative consequences.
This also applies to situations like work. For instance, a friend of mine was loaded up with too much work, and he never spoke up about how much stress he was feeling because of it. Because he didn’t speak up, his boss thought he was capable of handling that much work and more, so he kept getting more and more work loaded onto his plate until he finally couldn’t keep up, and his boss was unhappy. By that time, it was too late to speak up. He had created the illusion of being a guy who could do everything, and no matter what he said, his boss thought he was just making excuses.
So, whenever you get that nagging sensation that you may not get another chance to say something, speak up!
4. Speak Up More And Practice Self-Love
Lisa Nichols is the master of speaking up and she recommends self-love. She isn’t afraid to speak the truth because she knows that it inspires other people and allows her to be herself.
How much do you love yourself? You are the only one who can give you the type of love you really desire. Nobody else gets access to what you need at your deepest levels.
When you speak up more and stand in your truth, you feel good about yourself. You feel capable of doing and saying things that make you feel good. You feel proud of yourself as you tell people what you think. It’s a great way to connect with your inner-self on an intimate level.
Also, when you speak up more, you allow yourself more time and opportunity to live the life that you really want.
For instance, if you allow other people to dictate what you do with your Saturday nights, then you are not loving yourself enough to do what you want to do. When you speak up and tell people that you would rather do something else, you are practicing self-love and giving yourself that ability to do things that make you feel good.
5. You Can’t Be Free Until You Speak Up More
If you don’t feel comfortable speaking your truth are you really free? – Leslie Smith
It may not be everybody’s truth, but it’s yours, and you should verbalize it so that you can tell people what you want, who you are, and what you stand for.
For instance, if you don’t feel comfortable speaking up to your mother, then you may let her dictate who you are with her truth. She may see you as someone you are not, and, if you don’t speak up, you are not free to be yourself around her. You wear a mask, pretending to be who she wants you to be and allowing her to continue dictating who you are. You lose your freedom to be who you want to be.
Freedom is precious. You can’t really know how precious it is until it’s taken away completely.
If you have the ability to be free, then exercise your right. Speak up more and let people know who you are and what you want.
Give yourself the freedom to be who you want, do what you want, and be in relationships that you want to be in.
6. Until You Speak Up More, What You Don’t Want Will Continue
Things you allow will continue. Never fear speaking your truth. – Quinton Storm
The bottom line is that until you speak up more, the things you don’t want to happen will continue to happen. That’s because when you don’t speak your mind, you allow what’s happening to happen. If it’s not what you want, then you need to speak up.
For instance, I have a friend who is very ambitious. She enjoys being busy and working on things. Her husband has recently gone on long-term sick leave, and he enjoys sitting around and watching TV all day. She knows he wants her to sit around with him, and so she does. She feels like it would hurt his feelings if she was to tell him that she would rather actively do something for her health, happiness, or success. So, she doesn’t say anything. She is miserable and allowing it to continue. And, she will continue to allow it to continue until she decides to speak up and let her husband know that she doesn’t want to sit around and watch TV all day.
Note: If you want to get inspired to speak up more, I recommend you follow the hashtag #speakup on Twitter. There you will find a ton of people giving you a good reason to speak up more. Not all the reasons will resonate with you (you may not care about speaking up when it comes to a reality show’s winner), but you will be inspired and motivated to speak up more in your own life when it comes to things that matter to you.
