Inner Authority is your own direct knowing of what is true and right for you, before other people's opinions and your own anxious thinking get involved. Learning to hear it and act on it is as much a part of conscious manifesting as any technique, because you cannot live from an end that someone else chose for you.

What Inner Authority feels like

It is usually quiet. It does not argue or explain. People describe it as:

  • A settled sense of yes or no in the body.
  • Clarity that arrives without a chain of reasons.
  • A feeling of relief when you admit what you actually want.
  • The same answer returning, calmly, each time you ask.

How it differs from fear and from ego

  • Fear is loud and urgent. It says "now, or else". Inner Authority has no deadline.
  • Fear repeats arguments. Inner Authority simply knows.
  • Wanting approval looks outward. It asks what others will think. Inner Authority looks inward and is unbothered.
  • Fear contracts the body. Inner Authority usually brings a slight loosening, even when the answer is hard.

Why we lose touch with it

From childhood most of us are taught to check with someone else: a parent, a teacher, an expert, a feed. Over time the habit of looking outside becomes automatic, and the inner voice gets quieter from lack of use. It is not gone. It is out of practice.

Five ways to strengthen it

  • Start small. Ask your Inner Authority about small things: what to eat, which way to walk. Act on the answer. Trust is built on small evidence.
  • Wait before asking others. When you face a decision, write down your own answer first. Then, if you want, ask for advice.
  • Notice the body. Say each option aloud and feel what happens in your chest and stomach.
  • Keep your word to yourself. Each time you do what you said you would, you become someone you can rely on.
  • Give it quiet. A few minutes of stillness a day. It rarely speaks over noise.

Inner Authority and manifesting

The Law of Assumption asks you to assume the feeling of your wish fulfilled. That only works when the wish is really yours. Many people are trying to manifest what they think they should want. When the end you choose comes from your own Inner Authority, living from it feels natural instead of forced. See What Is the Law of Assumption?.

When you cannot hear it

If everything inside feels like noise, that is normal, and it is workable. Talking it through with someone who will not give you their answer helps you find your own. That is a large part of what happens in coaching. The Intro Session is a good place to begin.