Part 4: Reconnect with Your Core Values
“Your values create your internal compass that can navigate how you make decisions in your life. If you compromise your core values, you go nowhere.”
Reconnecting with Core Values Keeps You Authentic
I have come to recognise patterns in my habits that revealed when I was hitting a rut. Usually it meant that I was acting in a way that went against the grain of what I believe. I experienced emotions like anger, jealousy, and frustration -- emotional experiences that made me burn inside to the point where I became aware that I needed to clean up my act. This is a yogic practice called Tapas (literally meaning “to burn”) where you accept this internal friction as a path towards self-improvement.
When I felt these emotions, it was because I was comparing myself to others and not connected or authentic to my self. Introspection helped trace the root cause and subsequent self-limiting beliefs that were not self-serving. Acceptance helped me to be present with where I was, but I wanted to move forward differently and better.
Although I did not know what my specific purpose was, I kind of knew the general direction I wanted to go. Like, many people I know, I’ve so so caught up in not knowing where I wanted to end up, I missed out on the potential of taking a journey.
The easiest way to move forwards is to shift your focus from an end result or goal onto things that you do believe in — your core values.
Core values could be related to a cause, a social injustice or a humanitarian need. Or your core values could be foundations of your personality such as honesty, community, etc.
When everything you do is connected to something you believe in, you can create meaning in whatever it is you do. Your path forwards becomes more authentic and a little more clearer.
Almost every aspect of a person’s life has meaning to it when connected to core values. We often miss connecting the dots. Each person’s values differ from another, but all are completely valid.
In your journal, list the values you hold dear to your heart. Thread the values through your personal desires or goals. Usually if there is no alignment between our values and our goals, we get stuck in a rut. Remedying this may be the key to pulling ourselves out.
Usually, our connections to core values reveal themselves in the smaller things we do with ease that we care about deeply. We can link causes we do believe in into the work we do as well. It takes a little bit of creativity and introspection. Usually, this is our "aha" moment.