What if the answers you’ve been searching for have been quietly speaking to you all along? In her new memoir Ready to Listen?, Leslie Lee Sanders explores the power of intuition, self-trust, and finally tuning into that inner voice we’re often taught to ignore. We caught up with Leslie to talk about reclaiming your truth, recognizing life’s subtle signs, and why learning to listen might just change everything. —Noa Nichol
Your book asks, “Are you ready to listen?”—what does that moment of truly listening to yourself actually feel like?
Truly listening feels like exposing something to yourself that you intended to stay hidden, truths that you already know but need to process honestly and without sugarcoating. Uproot the true answer to whatever your subconscious is trying to keep from surfacing. It’s an important step to finding your authenticity and living it.
You describe the Universe as always speaking—what are some of the most common ways people overlook or dismiss those signs in everyday life?
A practical sign (as somewhat of an oxymoron) is what many call coincidence. If you experience an out-of-the-box moment, like your mother’s favorite drink appearing in your favorite show just as you were thinking of her. In those cases, coincidence becomes synchronicity or a meaningful moment, giving information or insight you need at that time, yet many dismiss those moments as simply chance.
There’s a difference between fear and intuition—how can someone begin to distinguish between the two when both can feel so powerful?
Intuition will always steer you toward taking action. Fear prevents you from moving forward. Yet, fear gives us a moment to self-reflect and discover why that fear exists in the first place and can be a catalyze for positive change.
You talk about being taught to stay quiet—how does that conditioning show up later in life, especially when it comes to trusting our inner voice?
For me personally, it showed up as not fully expressing myself. Not saying what I truly wanted to say without packaging it in a sweet way or agreeing so I didn’t have to bear the burden of being “disagreeable” or “defensive.” It’s a form of dimming our light, shrinking ourselves, or underestimating our power. Growing up this way trains us to believe the voices of others instead of our own inner voice telling the truth.
Synchronicities can feel magical but also confusing—what’s your approach to interpreting them without overthinking or forcing meaning?
I allow my feelings to interpret the synchronicity. If it’s truly a divine message or divine intervention, my heart skips a beat. My emotion and intuition connect to the meaningful moment, and I get chills or gasp, or have a strong reaction whenever it happens. You will know. The stronger the natural reaction—the more it sticks with you, or nags at you, or you need to tell someone about it—the more real it is for you.
You mention that burnout can be a message—what might that message be trying to tell us, and how should we respond when we hear it?
Burnout tells you it’s time to listen to your body. Maybe it’s time for a break, to have a moment of self-care and self-reflection, and pivot or figure out an alternative path. For many, burnout is the final step before giving up, and if you listen you can turn inaction into progress and continue toward your goals. Turn what could become a halt into a win.
For someone who feels completely disconnected from their intuition, where do they begin reconnecting in a way that feels safe and grounded?
Reconnect through solitude. Take long baths, walks in nature, or be alone in meditation, etc. Spending time with yourself—your feelings, your thoughts—allows a calm mind to ponder deep questions and reflect on the real answers. Ask yourself what you really want and why. The why is important because that is what usually motivates us to take action. Solitude allows us to actually listen and interpret our intuition and its guidance.
Your journey includes recognizing dreams and symbolic messages—have there been any signs or moments that completely shifted your path?
I speak about this in Ready to Listen?, how meeting my husband was entirely orchestrated by the universe placing us in the right place at the right time to allow me to escape my previous toxic relationship and place me on my current path of stability, prosperity, fulfillment, abundance and happiness. I’ve done a complete one-eighty shift from who I used to be before listening to what I’ve become after.
You say this isn’t “glossy manifestation”—what does real, honest spiritual growth actually require from us?
Real growth requires hard work. It like a test from the universe decoding how much you really want it. But it’s a test you can never fail. As long as you keep taking action, progress will be made. Even if you make mistakes, that’s part of the process. Learning is growing and both are the human’s purpose for existing. Embrace it.
You speak about signs and spiritual guidance—how can people stay open to connection with loved ones they’ve lost or feel separated from, without feeling like they’re imagining it?
If a sign resonates with you, take it. If you get meaning out of hearing your passed loved one’s favorite song spontaneously play in the car on your way to work, that is a simple message that they are still with you. If you feel it, your intuition connects with the message, therefore the message is real and is yours. Don’t try to validate it through others perspective because only you can feel the tug in your heart the message struck in you.
For those navigating distance—whether emotional or physical—from someone they love, how can intuition help guide healing or closure?
Intuition will let you know what you are needing, especially when you take a moment to listen to your body and emotional desires. Do you need closure at this time? Why now? What will closure provide for you? Why are you seeking closure and what does that say about you, and so on? Self-reflection opens the door to intuition, and it leads you exactly where you need to be and to the truths you need to accept about yourself and the situation.
If someone reading this is on the edge of reclaiming their voice but still hesitating, what would you gently say to encourage them to trust it?
Begin where you feel comfortable. Start small but start, nonetheless. Say no, when appropriate but this time don’t explain or justify it. No is a full sentence. If you are able to do this, you are well on your way to reclaiming your voice and your power and co-create the life you wish to live.
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