Heather, a baker for a catering company, began having issues with one of her co-workers after he bulldozed over her experience and capability in the kitchen. After her resentment had built up to a nearly unmanageable level, she called for a meeting, during which she explained to him how she was feeling.
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\n\u201cI made sure to speak my truth,\u201d says Heather. \u201cBy that I mean that I spoke with him in a completely honest way about my discomfort, without trying to minimize or play down the fact that I felt disrespected. I used \u201cI\u201d statements, but was also clear about why the work environment had become unbearable.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although the lead up to the talk was terrifying\u2014Heather cried in her car on the way to work and nearly turned around\u2014since the meeting, things have been much better at work. The caterer was able to listen to Heather\u2019s statements without attacking her and, on the whole, her work environment has become significantly more pleasant.<\/p>\n
Heather\u2019s experience is perfectly normal, especially in regards to the fear she felt before expressing her dissatisfaction. Most people have a difficult time saying what\u2019s true for them when issues come up in family and work life.<\/p>\n
They fear the pain of being rejected, writes Mike Robbins in Be Yourself: Everyone Else Is Already Taken, so they alter their words and actions and may even manipulate situations and people to get what they want without having to speak honestly.<\/p>\n
However, speaking your truth is not only mentally liberating, it\u2019s beneficial to your physical health. \u201cWhen we let our true self be seen, when we let our inner pilot light radiate, we heal,\u201d says Rankin, the author of the upcoming book Mind Over Medicine: Scientific Proof You Can Heal Yourself. Holding in emotions and resentments can lead to stress, which can be taxing on the body. Releasing stressful tension is just one of the benefits of speaking truthfully.<\/p>\n
But how does one actually do this without alienating others?<\/p>\n
1. Aim for being real, not right. Speak from the heart, and focus on expressing your thoughts without attacking the other person.<\/p>\n
2. Get to know your own truth through introspective exercises. Think about what you value, what inspires you, what makes you feel grounded, what gives you purpose in life.<\/p>\n
3. Practice. Speaking your truth becomes easier with time and repetition. Always pay attention to that inner pilot light. And when something seems off in your outer world, don\u2019t be afraid to let your voice be heard.<\/p>\n
As difficult as it may feel to start speaking up, ultimately it\u2019s easier to be truthful than it is to evade the issue. It takes courage to speak up, to risk another\u2019s displeasure, but in the end the physical and mental rewards of doing so are endless.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Heather, a baker for a catering company, began having issues with one of her co-workers after he bulldozed over her experience and capability in the kitchen. After her resentment had built up to a nearly unmanageable level, she called for a meeting, during which she explained to him how she was feeling.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17,33],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.drilonatobin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.drilonatobin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.drilonatobin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.drilonatobin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.drilonatobin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=206"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.drilonatobin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":217,"href":"http:\/\/www.drilonatobin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206\/revisions\/217"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.drilonatobin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.drilonatobin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.drilonatobin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}