#372 How to understand your inner voice, enhance your intuition, and align with your soul purpose, with Susan Zummo.

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
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The sole purpose for just about every individual on the planet is to learn to love themselves, and then to love others.

You are listening to personal development mastery, the podcast that empowers you with the simple and consistent actions you need to master yourself and create a life of purpose and fulfilment. I'm your host, Aggie Keramidas. And this is episode 372. If you would like to be able to discern your soul's voice from other internal and external voices. And if you want to get better at listening to your body in decision making, then today's episode will offer you guidance on connecting with your inner voice and insights into discovering and aligning with your soul purpose. Let's dive right in. 

Today, I am delighted to speak with Susan Zummo. Susan, you are a master teacher of higher consciousness with over 30 years of transformative experience. You are also an author and the spiritual life guide guiding individuals toward a soul directed life and merging spiritual principles with everyday practicality. You are a certified practitioner in various modalities and you are passionate about guiding individuals on a soul directed path to higher consciousness. Suzanne, it's such a pleasure to speak with you today. Welcome to the show.

Thank you, thank you so much.

It's I'm very excited for these topics that we will explore and just hint in a little bit. Now I would very much intrigued by the language of the soul. That's one thing I want to discuss with you and also live in a soul directed life, which are things that you talk about. Before we go there, I would like to ask you to give us some kind of milestone or highlight from your life. I know there are many to choose from, but pick one that maybe will set the tone for this conversation that we're about to have to have. That's

a good question. Most recently, I was in meditation, and made the discovery of something that has guided my entire life. And that is my desire and need to rescue others, to help others to fix things for them. And as you can imagine, that can be a something that can trip me up because I'm imposing my will on others, I'm focused on others. And it's always been a driving force in my life. While I was in meditation, I was able to discover the original cause of of how that came about in me and in my life. And as a result of healing that and releasing that it shifted my frequency and cleared my my energy, so that I was able to learn new and different things and receive higher energy, higher information from my soul. And as a result, I'm rewriting and writing new workshops to change the information. So that's been a big shift for me. And that's happened in the last couple months.

Oh, that's great. And, you know, there was there was something that when you were describing, you use the word rescue others, which is quite a strong word, because you know, helping others is one thing but rescuing others, it implies that they are in in in deeper problems. So I that's something I picked from the way that that you say that was I suppose that would be similar to the the pressure the burden you had to impose that on on others. Exactly.

Because I didn't just have a session and let it go. It stayed with me and I was working on it sometimes more than they were and and it is a pressure and it was not good for either of us for me and anybody else.

That's great. Thank you for sharing this with us, Susan. So let's, let's talk about intuition. Actually, that's what I wanted to start talking about. And intuition is often considered the the voice of the soul. Am I correct in saying that?

Absolutely. Yes.

So can you can you tell me a bit more about, about that? The, the voice of the soul and the intuition, and then we'll, we'll carry on from there. Yeah.

Your soul is intimately connected to you through your heart. And your soul is a voice that whispers it does not shout. And so in our everyday lives, we have so many voices talking to us. There are the voices in the outside world, work, friends, family, there are our own inner voices, the voice of the critic, the voice of the parent, the voice of the child, the voice of, of, you know, just multiple voices. And so the voice of the soul is very soft. It can be in words, some people hear their their soul speak, it can be symbolic, it can be life events, it's more of a whisper than a shout. And so for us to hear the voice of the soul, we have to be able to distinguish the other voices within us, such as our fear voice. And we have to learn how to listen. And when we hear it, we want to act on it. That's what makes it louder. So people who say, Oh, I knew that, oh, I should have done that. Oh, I knew better than that. Oh, that's right. I had that feeling. That's the sole communicating and US ignoring it. So it the more we learn to listen, the stronger that voice gets, and the easier the guidances. And our soul is that guiding voice that is never going to steer us wrong.

That's a wonderful explanation you just gave us here. And there were two things. I wanted to go deeper on with what you just said. And the first one, you said, it's important to distinguish that soft voice from the other voices, the voice of fear, and all those things that are happening inside our mind. So can I suppose you appreciate like many of us do appreciate that this is not always easy to distinguish, because exactly the other voices are so loud, that they tend to drown this kind of a waste. But as you as you very rightly said, so can you share with me what one practice was something that one can incorporate? To be able to distinguish this soft whisper of the intuition? From the more louder voices of the mind?

It's a good question. Two things. The first is to know that your soul will never criticise you, your soul will never scold you. And your soul will never should you. So your sole voice is always going to come with a feeling of love, and support and compassion. Your soul is is not a stern teacher who wants to yell at you or tell you that you're stupid or anything like that. So that's one way to distinguish your soul voice from your fear voice. Now, your soul may say, that's not a good idea. Which is different from if you do that something terrible is going to happen. So that's one way to tell them apart. The other is I'm not a firm believer in extensive periods of meditation. I know a lot of people who are into meditation and you know, I like to do a good solid one regularly. But to hear the soul 30 seconds, 60 seconds of silence. Just sit for one minute and then open yourself to hearing rather than talking. We do a lot of talking internally, but we don't do a lot of listening. And so what I would recommend is to sit throughout the day for one minute minute, no longer than that. And just be open to hear Hearing the inner voice. And if you don't, that's okay, because it'll come later. And that would be the best way to start, you can get more information from your soul in one minute than you might think.

Do you suggest to put that minute somewhere in particular in our day, between activities, what when is a good time to pick that minute,

I would say, in the morning, you know, if you want to sit on the side of the bed before you get up and, and do that minute, during the day, especially if you're at work to take that break from all that mental activity. The most important thing is to fit it into your day, not to be rigid about where it's going to happen, right? You can make an appointment with your soul and say every day at 9am, I'm going to say hi. And you can do that. But you can also say, I need a little more flexibility in my schedule. So I will call you every day. But it might be at a different time. Because for the soul, there is no time.

Of course, and thank you for this practical things, because it's it's important. We live we both agree on that to not, you know, theoretically discuss about this concept. So we could but that's really not the point of this interaction that we're having. There was another thing that you said that I believe is very important, even more important, maybe the first is to recognise and distinguish that Whisper of the intuition. But the second thing is to act on it. And that's again, something that taught everyone so easily does even though the voice is there, and the nods Maybe is there. Still, that is not necessarily enough to make someone take the action. And I suppose I will let you tell me what stands in the way of doing that. And maybe with what way one can overcome that and actually take the action needed on their intuition.

healthier, there's a couple couple ways. Sometimes we learn by not listening repeatedly. And we kind of catch a clue that not listening is not such a good thing for me. It's painful. So that that can be one way to learn. I would say start off with small things. Don't start off asking your soul should I marry this person? Should I quit my job and move across country, you know, start with little things, so that you can build a foundation of success and build that relationship. So my my philosophy is spiritual, of spiritual led life and intuition led life, a soul directed life is only good if it improves your everyday life. Because we don't live in a world at least I don't where I could sit in my home, and meditate and hang out in the higher energies all day long. I still have to do laundry, I still have to work. Right? I still have to live a three dimensional life. I don't believe we should make them separate. I believe that they should be integrated as one. And so I don't separate my spiritual life from my daily life, I apply one to the other. So I will ask, you know, where do I need to go to find a birthday present for a friend of mine? You know, what's the best route to take to avoid the traffic, little things? And then, you know, I know a lot of people like to create parking spots because they don't like to walk right? Once you've done that, and you've got that practice, then then you say, oh, I can trust my intuition on something bigger. And then you move into the larger things. The other thing is listen to your body. You know, a lot of times the soul will talk to you through your physical body. And as you're thinking about or contemplating a path or situation. How does your body feel? For example, before you and I connected I sat down and asked my intuition. Is this someone that I will be compatible with? Is this someone that I can work with? Does this person have the same motive that I have? Right now? And every everything in me went, Oh, yeah, this is good.

It's good to know you say, and

that's when I sent the message. So practical things are are important. And that's where the practice comes in.

If you enjoy this episode, can you find one person you think would find it useful and share it with them? I'd really appreciate it, it helps the show grow. And you'll also be adding value to people you care about. Thank you. And now let's get back to the episode. It was one of the things that caught my attention when I was reading about you, Susan, you, you were saying exactly what you said, Now what I would read it back because it really caught my attention, as I said, and you said that you believe that the practicalities of everyday life must be guided by spiritual practices, and that spiritual practices must have practical applications in daily life. And that's something that I consider to be fascinating because, and very useful also, because for many people, because of maybe the way they grew up, or even religion had something to do with it. But in many people's idea of spirituality is what you said detoxing from the, you know, the life that we leave here from your job and your family and whatever else and go into the monastery or in the cave to meditate for but this may be a part of the journey. But that's, I don't think that is what really spirituality. So let me ask you, tell me your thoughts on what I just said. Well,

it reminds me of many years ago, I was doing this work full time. And I started to get very narrow. So I didn't I didn't have anyone in my life who didn't know what chakras were. And if you didn't know this, then then I didn't want to. And I thought people who were in the corporate world, which is terrible, didn't one have anything to do with them? Right. And I had a friend asked me to come manage his office while he was setting up another location. And I'm saying to him, Oh, no, no, no, I don't do that. You know, I don't I don't do that. And, and that's what I'm saying in my head. When I opened up my mouth. I said, Of course, I'd be happy to do that. And I was horrified. And my intuition said to me, how do you expect for people in the corporate world to connect with their soul? If you don't go to them. And I went, okay. So in all the years that I've worked in corporate, which had been for the last 4045 years, I take it back 30 years, 35 years, I'm not good with dates. But anyway, the people that I've worked with, I've used my intuition, to guide them through their careers and their personal lives. And so instead of pushing them in a direction, then I listened to what really suits this person, what's really going to help this person. And so coaching sessions at work, became spiritual counselling sessions. And so I know that no matter who I've ever worked with, in whatever capacity, their life has improved, not just they're climbing the successful ladder, or they're making more money, or that kind of thing. And, and as much as I resisted moving into that world, because I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to do my work, I wouldn't be a spiritual, you know, that kind of thing. I'd be in a competition area. It's really allowed me to touch more people than I ever would have. And it's really taught me that, that my definition of how someone should use their intuition or listen to their guidance is not necessarily the most important thing. It's what's important for the other person. So, listening and knowing how to how to help a person overcome their fear is is what I use it for. But then I have to use it to overcome my own fears. And, and that's the other lesson is that we teach what we need to learn. So every time I open my mouth, I hear the little voice going, Are you Listening. And I'm like, Yeah. and listening. So I don't know if that answers your question. But that's what came to mind when you were speaking.

Absolutely. And you just said now and you said, you teach what you need to learn. And that kind of, you know resonated really, because it's not something that always comes up for me that this is. So thank you. Now, that's, that's one event, you know this. There are no answers like in the way that this is that i The answer I was looking for. So thank you for sharing it. Susan, I wanted to ask, we have discussed about intuition and you know, honing it and listening to it and acting on it. I think what's maybe the the purpose or the intention for doing that is eventually to align with what our soul, let's say what the soul suggests. So you talk about sole purpose, unique sole purpose, I think that was the exact phrase that that you say. So I wanted to ask you. How do you mean, a unique soul purpose? And, again, I will ask you, what's advice that you would give someone in listening to that and realising Yes, that makes sense. How to move towards that?

Well, that's a good question. There's two things about sole purpose. It's not always as grand as everybody thinks it is.

Thank you for saying that. It can be very, very unique

to each individual, and also very simple. So many people want to help others. And they feel a call to service. And so they feel that the only way that they can accomplish that goal, that goal, that purpose, is to do something on a global scale to do something on a grand scale. And while that may be the purpose for some, for most people, the way that they do that is to learn to love themselves, and to love others. So the sole purpose for just about every individual on the planet, I would say every individual is to learn to love themselves, and then to love others. Now, some people come in with two goals, and they have a driving force to accomplish something. And that driving force will override their their willful desires, their personality desires, right. And you know, if you have that drive, and you know if you're on the path, because things will be comfortable for you. Not not comfortable as in, oh, this is good, I feel comfortable, but comfortable as in not a lot of obstacles. When you're in your soul path, you don't have a lot of obstacles. When you start to veer off to the right or the left, that's when you get into trouble. So for example, I have the first sole purpose, to learn to love myself and to love others. My overriding drive is to teach others about their soul and their their higher self and their inner truth. Every time I have decided that I am going to live a life of domesticity. I'm going to focus on just being Grandma, I'm going to focus on, you know, just just working day to day. Things don't go right for me. I don't feel well, I don't sleep well. I have this nagging conversation in my head over and over and over again. I'm out of balance. When I am working with others like this, or teaching or doing sessions, everything is great. And then when I leave that the rest of my life feels good. So I can't ignore one for the other. I can only do this and ignore the other. But in the end, and what I tell everybody is I'm not I'm not a famous person. I'm not the person you see on TV, you know, on on doing all of that kind of thing. And some people have that. That is their purpose too. reach a global audience. My purpose is not to be famous, but my work is important. And the people that I touch, I know it has an impact. And so I know that when I start to step out of that lane, things don't go well. When I stay in that lane, things go very, very well. If I'm not caring for myself, or, or really loving myself, by nurturing myself, feeding myself, you know, taking care of myself, and just appreciating myself, then my spiritual work suffers, because they can't relate to others in the way that I want to. So spiritual purpose and soul purpose, when you're not loving yourself, life is not going well. And when you are loving yourself, your soul is like, Yeah, let's send all the good stuff. Does that kind of answer it or?

Yeah, and what you were saying about, you know, it's not that you don't have challenges that you are coming comfortable that they're not obstacles, such as the things that the word that came to my mind was resistance, or friction or that thing, like you feel like you're swimming upstream where everything is against you that, that that's what I got us. And I think we've all been there. And we know what that feels like. So it's good to have the, you know, the understanding of why this might be happening, and really do what we need to do to change.

Yeah, if you find yourself pushing and pushing and pushing and pushing, you probably a sign that you're pushing. Just kind of sit back and see what happens. You know, and there's nothing wrong with with saying to your soul or your higher self, you know, put the right thing on the path for me, put the right person on the path for me, and be open to remembering that it's not just us, I always try to remember that, that I'm the number one pin and there are 10 pins behind me or nine pins behind me that I'm not seeing that are there to support me. And so we have to not be arrogant in thinking that I'm doing everything. We have to remember that there are nine other unseen supporting loving forces behind us that want to help. But they can't do anything if we don't ask. And so we have to remember to ask for help. And that's a big one in this world. A lot of people are taught not to do that. It's weak. But it's not. You get weak when you try to do everything yourself.

Yes, indeed. And thank you also for highlighting this the asking, asking for help asking your higher self for help, or you asking for it is asking, thank you. So thank you for highlighting this. This point, I think is very important. And I'm only saying that again and again. Because I know that I was not doing it for a large portion of my life. So there are others that are like that they never do and they don't even realise what are others that do it. Susan, it's it's truly fascinating conversation. Thank you very much. I have a couple of quick fire questions to conclude and wrap it up. And before I ask you them, where do you want to direct the listener who has enjoyed listening to you very much and wants to go to the next level and find out more,

they can visit my website, which is Susan zumo.com. They can email me at Susan xumo@gmail.com. I have videos up on YouTube that I do weekly, which are just inspirational messages. I have a group that meets on the first Monday of every month, that's free group, just connect, meditate, have community and then I'm starting up a new workshop series in January called the foundation which is exactly that it's a foundational workshop to help people get get going regardless of where their their level is. otherwise, that, you know, that's really just kind of

that's wonderful. And so Susan, I have to the two final questions, I always ask them to my guests. The first one is What does personal development mean to you?

It means that I'm continuing to always learn and grow. There's that line from from the song, the greatest love of all, I love myself the way I am. And still I want to grow. That's what personal development is for me.

That's beautiful. Thank you. And hypothetical question. If you could go back in time and meet your 18 year old, Susan, your 18 year old self, what's one piece of advice you would give her? I

would tell her, don't wait until you're in your 60s to stop being afraid.

Then I'd have to tell her how. But that's

Thank you. Suzanne, I want to thank you very much for this. Really absorbing conversation. I enjoyed it very much. I believe we extracted a lot of useful value and wisdom if you want, hopefully, your insights for the listener. I want to wish you all the very best with your mission and your unique sole purpose how you were describing it. Before we conclude, what's one last piece of advice or civil practice that our listening can implement, you know, maybe I say, a continuation of what we discussed about today.

First, I want to say thank you to you, and and bless you for the work that you're doing. You're a wonderful, wonderful, loving light. And I appreciate the time that we've spent together. I would tell the people who are listening, that if you're not doing something out of love, stop doing it immediately. Ask yourself, Am I doing this because I love myself so much that I couldn't do anything else? Or am I doing this because I'm afraid of something will happen if I don't and use that as your guiding force. Right now, the most important thing every single person on earth can do is embrace a love of self, a love of soul, and then a love of others.

And before I end today's episode, an open invitation to you listening right now. I invite you to find me on social media and send me direct message about anything you prefer. You can tell me who your favourite guest has been so far, or who you would like me to interview next or what topic you would like to hear on the podcast show. Drop me a line and I look forward to chatting with you. Until next time, stand out don't fit in!