What is SELF-LISTENING? - Talk About Talk

You’ve probably heard about the power of positive SELF-TALK, but what about SELF-LISTENING?

This week, I’m thrilled to explore this topic and share insights from a recent conversation with my friend, the talented Jill Nykoliation.

I’m even more excited because you can now WATCH this and future Talk About Talk podcast episodes on YOUTUBE!

Please subscribe, and see you there!

Are you ready to learn all about self-listening?

3 things to Talk About this week:

1. Self-listening with Jill Nykoliation
2. How to start listening to yourself
3. The power of pausing

1️⃣ Self-Listening with Jill Nykoliation

Whether she’s sharing insights on self-listening, or how to communicate like a boss, it’s always a treat to speak with Jill.

Jill served as the award-winning CEO and co-founder of the Juniper Park\TBWA advertising and branding agency. She is a deeply empathetic leader who believes that business growth and her employees’ personal development go hand in hand.

After 30 years of creating disruptive brand campaigns, Jill is now leaning into her gifts for helping people grow as a life coach; I can’t think of anyone better suited to talk about the power of self-listening.

What exactly is self-listening?

SELF-LISTENING is internal self-awareness. It’s about focusing your unique identity and looking inward.

For many of us, it’s easy to listen to external sources. But as Jill says, holding space to listen and be compassionate with yourself is how what allows you to truly know yourself and step into your authentic self.

I hope you enjoy my conversation with Jill as much as I did. You can find the podcast episode on the talkabouttalk.com website, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Thank you, Jill!

2️⃣ How to start listening to yourself

If you’re looking for a simple entry point to self-listening, one thing that Jill recommends is journalling.

Set aside some quiet time for yourself and write. Don’t think! Just get it out.

Then reflect on what you’ve written, and why it was important to get it down. Try asking yourself questions like:

How am I really feeling about this?
When did I first know this?
What is this teaching me?
What is the gift in this that I can carry forward?

Once you’ve cultivated this practice of reflective journalling, you might find also it easier to pause and reflect in real-time…

3️⃣ The Power of Pausing

Imagine you made a mistake on a big project. Is your instinct to shrink or berate yourself?

Or imagine you’re in a conversation with a difficult colleague who clearly doesn’t respect you. Is your instinct to lash out? Or shut down?

What if, instead of berating yourself or lashing out, you could look at the scenario as a fascinating opportunity to learnand grow?

The key is to PAUSE.

PAUSING is something that Jill practices and encourages for others.

Imagine a space between a stimulus and your response, where you can deliberately pause to reflect and listen to yourself.

Pausing to listen provides us with the freedom to choose a more ideal response.

There you go – 3 things to Talk About this week: self-listening with Jill Nykoliation, kick-starting your self-listening by journaling, and the power of pausing.

Are there any tactics you’ve tried to improve your self-listening skills? Feel free email me or message me on LinkedIn to let me know. I love hearing from you.

Talk soon,