This weekend, I went to a dance class.

That probably doesn't sound like a big deal.

But before the pandemic, dance and improv were two of the ways I reset. They got me out of my head, back into my body, around people, laughing, moving, making things up.

Then life changed.

Those things went away, and somewhere along the way I stopped making space for them again.

There was always a reason.

Work. Life. Caregiving. Being tired. Being busy. Having too much to do.

And then this weekend, I went back.

I wasn't trying to be good at it. I wasn't trying to turn it into a performance or accomplish anything.

I just danced.

And I remembered something I think we forget when we talk about finding our voice:

Your voice needs a life to draw from.

We spend a lot of time trying to figure out what to say.

What should I post?

What should I write about?

What's my point of view?

What could I possibly add to the conversation that hasn't already been said?

Sometimes I don't think the answer is to sit at your computer and think harder.

Sometimes you need to go live a little.

Do something that makes you curious.

Go somewhere new.

Have a conversation you weren't expecting.

Make something badly.

Play.

Move.

Put yourself in situations where you're not producing or performing or trying to prove anything.

Because our ideas don't come from nowhere.

Neither do our stories.

Neither does our voice.

Maybe you haven't run out of things to say.

Maybe you just need to give yourself more things to experience.

🔑 Small Shift: Give Your Voice More Material

If you've been feeling uninspired, stuck or like you have nothing interesting to say, resist the urge to immediately go looking for another content prompt.

Change the input.

Try this:

• Do one thing this week you haven't done in a long time.
• Go somewhere you wouldn't normally go.
• Have a conversation with someone outside your usual circle.
• Try something you're not already good at.
• Notice what makes you laugh, annoys you, surprises you or makes you think differently.

Then ask yourself: What did that make me think about?

That's usually where the interesting stuff begins.

💡 Insight: "You don't find your voice only by thinking about what you want to say. You find it by paying attention to what your life is giving you to say."

📝 From the Work

When I'm helping someone figure out what they want to say, I rarely think the answer is simply, "Make up with more content."

We look for what they're already noticing. The conversation they can't stop thinking about. The thing that happened at work that bothered them. The lesson they learned the hard way. The belief they've changed their mind about. The story they keep telling friends.

Those are clues.

Here is what we do:

1. Pay attention to what keeps getting your attention.
2. Capture the thought before deciding whether it's "good enough."
3. Ask yourself why it matters to you.
4. Then ask what someone else might see differently after hearing it.

You don't have to manufacture a point of view.

You have to notice the one you're already developing.

❓Question for you

What's something you used to do that made you feel more like yourself, but somewhere along the way you stopped doing it?

And what might happen if you made room for it again?

▶ Featured: Watch | Read | Listen​

Featured Remember to Live Episode: I Took Every Leap and Still Have Regrets

This episode is me coming back to the mic to tell you why, and to walk through the book that cracked open everything I thought I knew about living without regret: Daniel Pink's The Power of Regret. Turns out the "no regrets" philosophy might be the thing getting in our way.

• ​Listen here ​

PS: If you are looking to find your voice again, or maybe for the first time, hit reply and let's chat.

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