"Today I took my own advice, and it worked! You should try listening to your inner voice more often." - Johnnie Williams III -
I have often told students and coaching clients to write down the ideas and thoughts that come while #caughtinthought - but I didn't always do what I was suggesting. So, as this thought came to mind, I decided (8 years ago) to begin writing down all the crafty and insightful phrases and thoughts as they would come. And they would come to me at the oddest times which often required that I quickly text myself so that I wouldn't forget them. And, this went on for some time.
Wondering what I should do with them, I sat and thought about the advice I'd give to someone else in a similar situation; and then it came to me that I should create a @JohnnieTalks Twitter account for my thoughts. At the time, I only had about 13 thought provoking phrases, but that has now grown into more than 1,111 of my own (original) statements under the brand Think About It... Something inside of me suggested that I write my thoughts down - then I felt it might be wise to post them for others to see. Now you can see where a simple thought (here and there) has taken me, and how a brand has emerged from this one decision.
- I believe that we all have this deep inner knowing that often gets ignored because we seek others advice which might indicate - we are lacking confidence in our own innerstanding (an understanding).
- Sometimes we seek validation for our thoughts and ideas from those we know, trust and follow.
- What I have found for myself is that I often knew what was best for me - or what I should do (all along).
- First, you must identify YOUR voice from amongst all the outer noise in the background, which is filled with distractions.
- I used to always say to myself... "The little birdie in my ear was right, and tried to warn me." But, too often failed to listen to my own discernment and inner wisdom, and suggest that you not fail to follow your own higher self.
The key word from this post that I want YOU to focus upon is beLIEve. For what you believe is what you get. I believed that my simple thoughts would become something one day and here they are, bringing you and other Thought Tribe members to this very blog. But, early on I mismanaged my BELIEFS by thinking that my first book of thoughts was not good enough to publish, because family and friends didn't read or offer feedback on the completed manuscript. So this gem sat on the shelf for 7 yrs until 2020, when so many of us found ourselves soul searching during the great shutdown. It was my own thoughts that held me together and inspired me to pivot back to my writing, since my public speaking career had suddenly slammed on brakes.
3 bits of advice that I have come up with for mySELF to follow are:
1) Finish what you start (this blog is included in that).
2) Mind your mind; meaning your mental health and inner dialogue or SELF talk.
3) Think prior to doing anything, because that act of just doing without thinking is base more in subconscious programming that might be hardwired to direct you straight into a past problem.
We'd like to say that it is our intention to create a Thought Tribe where YOU and others can feel safe to express varying viewpoints
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Burden
The Burden is a documentary series that takes listeners into the hidden places where justice is done (and undone). It dives deep into the lives of heroes and villains. And it focuses a spotlight on those who triumph even when the odds are against them. Season 5 - The Burden: Death & Deceit in Alliance On April Fools Day 1999, 26-year-old Yvonne Layne was found murdered in her Alliance, Ohio home. David Thorne, her ex-boyfriend and father of one of her children, was instantly a suspect. Another young man admitted to the murder, and David breathed a sigh of relief, until the confessed murderer fingered David; “He paid me to do it.” David was sentenced to life without parole. Two decades later, Pulitzer winner and podcast host, Maggie Freleng (Bone Valley Season 3: Graves County, Wrongful Conviction, Suave) launched a “live” investigation into David's conviction alongside Jason Baldwin (himself wrongfully convicted as a member of the West Memphis Three). Maggie had come to believe that the entire investigation of David was botched by the tiny local police department, or worse, covered up the real killer. Was Maggie correct? Was David’s claim of innocence credible? In Death and Deceit in Alliance, Maggie recounts the case that launched her career, and ultimately, “broke” her.” The results will shock the listener and reduce Maggie to tears and self-doubt. This is not your typical wrongful conviction story. In fact, it turns the genre on its head. It asks the question: What if our champions are foolish? Season 4 - The Burden: Get the Money and Run “Trying to murder my father, this was the thing that put me on the path.” That’s Joe Loya and that path was bank robbery. Bank, bank, bank, bank, bank. In season 4 of The Burden: Get the Money and Run, we hear from Joe who was once the most prolific bank robber in Southern California, and beyond. He used disguises, body doubles, proxies. He leaped over counters, grabbed the money and ran. Even as the FBI was closing in. It was a showdown between a daring bank robber, and a patient FBI agent. Joe was no ordinary bank robber. He was bright, articulate, charismatic, and driven by a dark rage that he summoned up at will. In seven episodes, Joe tells all: the what, the how… and the why. Including why he tried to murder his father. Season 3 - The Burden: Avenger Miriam Lewin is one of Argentina’s leading journalists today. At 19 years old, she was kidnapped off the streets of Buenos Aires for her political activism and thrown into a concentration camp. Thousands of her fellow inmates were executed, tossed alive from a cargo plane into the ocean. Miriam, along with a handful of others, will survive the camp. Then as a journalist, she will wage a decades long campaign to bring her tormentors to justice. Avenger is about one woman’s triumphant battle against unbelievable odds to survive torture, claim justice for the crimes done against her and others like her, and change the future of her country. Season 2 - The Burden: Empire on Blood Empire on Blood is set in the Bronx, NY, in the early 90s, when two young drug dealers ruled an intersection known as “The Corner on Blood.” The boss, Calvin Buari, lived large. He and a protege swore they would build an empire on blood. Then the relationship frayed and the protege accused Calvin of a double homicide which he claimed he didn’t do. But did he? Award-winning journalist Steve Fishman spent seven years to answer that question. This is the story of one man’s last chance to overturn his life sentence. He may prevail, but someone’s gotta pay. The Burden: Empire on Blood is the director’s cut of the true crime classic which reached #1 on the charts when it was first released half a dozen years ago. Season 1 - The Burden In the 1990s, Detective Louis N. Scarcella was legendary. In a city overrun by violent crime, he cracked the toughest cases and put away the worst criminals. “The Hulk” was his nickname. Then the story changed. Scarcella ran into a group of convicted murderers who all say they are innocent. They turned themselves into jailhouse-lawyers and in prison founded a lway firm. When they realized Scarcella helped put many of them away, they set their sights on taking him down. And with the help of a NY Times reporter they have a chance. For years, Scarcella insisted he did nothing wrong. But that’s all he’d say. Until we tracked Scarcella to a sauna in a Russian bathhouse, where he started to talk..and talk and talk. “The guilty have gone free,” he whispered. And then agreed to take us into the belly of the beast. Welcome to The Burden.