--- title: "Finding Your Voice" description: "The return episode, after a long stretch away spent asking which parts of the work are truly his." author: "Rahim Rasul" type: "Podcast episode" series: "Halftime Talks" episode: 164 published: "2018-11-13" duration: "13 min" theme: "Voice and identity" tags: "voice, comparison, self-acceptance, creative identity" audio: "https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/rahimrasul/HTT_VOICE.mp3?dest-id=175061" url: "https://iloveprocess.com/halftime/finding-your-voice/" site: "I Love Process" --- # Finding Your Voice _The return episode, after a long stretch away spent asking which parts of the work are truly his._ **The question:** Are we willing to accept where we are on the path to where we want to be? Listen: https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/rahimrasul/HTT_VOICE.mp3?dest-id=175061 ## Before you listen Halftime Talks returns after a long time away, and the time away was its own process: an effort to understand the voice I present to the world. Voice is the style and truth of self that floats to the surface of a body of work. How do we cultivate it, and how do we accept the nuances that reflect it? We are shown disciplines and skill sets, hoping to mimic them, until it is hard to tell what is mine from what has been before. The biggest obstacle is comparison: how do I stack up? Meanwhile, in quiet moments, your own work keeps showing you who you are. Mine showed me that I love people and want to amplify the light I see in them. Listen for the run of roles near the end, where he asks these questions of Halftime Talks, his design career, and himself as coach, philosopher, husband and man. Discovering your voice is an ever unfolding process. ## From the talk > The biggest hindrance in the acquisition of the clarity of the voice that we seek in the world is, or has been, our natural human tendency to compare. > > Your truth seeps into the fabric of your body of work. > > Nobody can give you voice. Voice must not only be discovered, but eventually it has to be accepted. ## Sit with this - What is truly an expression of my voice? - Are we willing to look? - Are we willing to admit that this is a life aspiration? ## Transcript You're listening to halftime talks, the podcast that recognizes that in the middle of your game of life, whether you're up by 10 or down by 20, we all need to have time talks to uplift us, inspire us and challenge us to bring forth that level of performance that you and I both know it's gonna take to win the game. In this episode, we're gonna talk about voice, style, talent. I know it's been a second since you heard our voice. I know it's been a little longer than we've historically been between episodes, but I guarantee you, I think it's a good one. So without any further ado, man, let's jump into it. Here we go. I admit it's been a second since we've been together. My time away from this podcast, which I love, has been a process, a process of not just an absence of recording, but an engagement in seeking to understand the voice in which I present to the world. And so this talk, this time, I'd like to talk about voice. So often in our journey, we are shown different disciplines and domains. We are shown different strategies and tactics. We are shown different skill sets and talents, hoping to mimic them, hoping to find an ability that resides deep within us. And there is this life cycle, this life cycle from conception, pregnancy and birthing, that voice into the world. What is that voice? Or are we all empty shirts, facsimiles, mimics, imitations, carbon copies of what has been before. It's hard to even identify what is mine versus what has been. What is mine, what is uniquely distinct in this present field of of options, and what is truly an expression of my voice. And so as I navigate, as I seek to discover that voice, even so many decades in, I am churning through an assortment of examples of what has made other people popular, I try to find my way through the parade of how other people have found success, asking myself, Where do I stack up and what I've come to discover, the biggest hindrance in the acquisition of the clarity of the voice that we seek in the world Is, or has been, our natural human tendency to compare, how do I stack up? What is this in relationship to what the best are doing? While those may be great guys, they can also be obstructions, obstacles, false, figmented aspects. Of what will continue to separate from the acquisition of voice and what I've come to discover in those quiet moments, yourself tries to show you the evidence of who you are, your your work tries to show you the voice of what your strengths are, beyond the hope, beyond aspiration, beyond the imagination's capacity, to try to write the story of who you are and those subtle, quiet moments you. Your truth seeps into the fabric of your body of work. Now, what I've come to discover, and I will share with you, is that I love people in my own unique, special way. I see the light that resides in people, and above and beyond anything, I want to amplify that light. I want to spread that light to the world. I want them to see in the mirror exactly what I see in the world, not only just for the world, but even for myself, and to think that we are all born with this inalienable gift, this light that radiates, that emanates from Our center and is capable of leaving its impression on the world. I go about my life and I see so much potential for happiness squandered by that comparison, by a misdirection of intention, thinking that I must be equivalent to the images that stand around me. And so through these processes, through these aspects, the best way is to sneak that mirror in front of you. And the mirror goes by many terms perspectives. It goes by offering a way to look at the world and look at ourselves in a unique way. And if you think about that, that's what halftime talks is. That's what these conversations are about, is taking a moment, taking a minute, taking some time out of your life, to sit back, gather yourself, ensure you have your footing before you launch back into that level of engagement, the work which is required for us to begin to cultivate, to begin to set forth the level of momentum that will lead to progression after progression that will allow the dominoes to fall in Such a beautiful orchestration that only perspective can really witness we have to be as committed to the outcome as we are to the process, creating a more spacious opportunity for it all To be trending and tracking in the right direction for nobody will begin from scratch. Hearing this, nobody is an infant being orchestrated towards the highest and best right now. We all have a history, our history, our abilities, our talents, our proclivities. Each one of these things leads to the cultivation of our voice. Nobody can give you voice. Voice must not only be discovered, but eventually it has to be accepted, and as we accept the evidence that continues to bubble up and float to the surface about who we are and how we engage in all social interactions, how we engage in creating value, not only in our lives With our relationships, but our lives in the marketplace, that portrait of who we are gets more clear, the vague generalities become more specific, and those more specific things become hyper detailed. Are we willing to look? Are we willing to accept where we are on the path to where we want to be? Are we willing to admit that this is a life aspiration, not a yearly not a New Year's not of this month, not of this week, but this broad, spacious aspiration is something that we're going to breathe into and breathe out of and move into and move out of, and as we make peace with that, what are we capable of? What dominoes are falling allowing. Are bigger dreams to be possible, and without committing to the journey, we really have no idea of where we're headed. But I tell you this, I spent quite a bit of time asking myself these questions as it relates to halftime talks, as it relates to Rahim Rasul, as it relates to my design career, as it relates to me as a coach, as it relates to me as a philosopher, as it relates to me as a husband, as it relates to me as a man. I sit in this, this seat of dialog, of introspection, and I know it begins and my heart passes through my mind and extends forth from my fingers and reaches into the world. And as I accept and make peace with this process called the journey, um I share with you guys. So, hey, discover your voice, but that discovery is an ever unfolding process. Notice yourself, notice your dialog, notice your strength. Notice what has habitually floated up to the surface and tried to give you a narrative of what your possibilities are and who you may be at any given point of the process. That's your voice. Your voice is one of the most powerful tools at your disposal. Cultivate it, sharpen it challenging. Allow it to grow. Allow it to extend into places where your own imagination wouldn't even give yourself the opportunity to dream of and as you do that, the world opens up. You open up. Possibility opens up, and then you recognize that life is about making those dreams of who we are, who we're capable of being, come true. So until next time, my name is Rahim Rasul, thank you guys for listening. This is a long awaited return of halftime talks. I love you guys. Keep reaching for that voice peace.