My book, Essential Speaking: The 7-Step Guide to Finding Your Real Voice, is being translated into French by Brendan Flanagan who is practicing the 7 Steps to Essential Speaking with a peer group. He wondered about the phrase “essential self” and asked if I had invented it. I told him that I did not invent this concept and went on to explain that my in-depth work on myself (psychotherapy/spiritual practices/personal development) led me to discover many paths to the self that I believe is the essence of who I really am.
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By essence, I mean the core of my Being. Some might call it the “real self,” “true self, or “authentic self.”
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I believe within each of us resides this pure sense of self, and this essential self/essential Being has a voice.
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We are all endowed with the potential to speak our truth naturally and fearlessly.
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Learning how to listen to the sound of this natural voice and re-connect with it is part of the practice of the seven steps.
The process of reclaiming the essential self and speaking from it can be equated with cultivating a garden. Within you are seeds such as courage, beauty, and wisdom that will take root, grow, and blossom as you practice each step. The voice that then arises from your essential self will be steady, clear, and uniquely yours.
