Core Values: Change what isn’t working in your life
As Charles Darwin said “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change”. If we don’t change what isn’t working in our lives, we will continually have the same day over and over again…. well hello groundhog day!
At some point in your life have you had the experience of realising that something is not working for you? I know I have. Maybe you had a sudden aha moment, or a nagging feeling of doubt or a feeling of being stuck that grows stronger over time. For me this was a nagging feeling of something not quite right, but I couldn’t figure out what. On paper I had everything everyone told me I needed to be happy, a successful career, financial security, living in the amazing city of NYC, great friends & a supportive family, my health and…..the list goes on. For some reason I wasn’t feeling as happy or fulfilled as I thought I should be.
We all have different reactions to these realisations, panicked action or fear of change. Somewhere in the middle is the place of power. The ability to identify & understand the problem.
For me, the first step in this process was to review my life as a whole. Even though your life is made up of separate parts let’s not forget they are all interconnected. When making changes we want to know how it impacts all aspects of our lives, because with interconnectedness comes impact! When we look at our life in compartments this leads us to make changes that can have negative impacts on other areas of our life.
Think of that time that you decided you wanted to improve your health. You committed to going to the gym 6 days a week starting tomorrow. How did that work out for you? The problem with setting these goals in isolation is that we don’t think of the ecological impact to other areas of your life. If going to the gym is going to take at least 1 hour out of your day, every day, where are you going to find this hour? Something else needs to give…. sleep, time with family & friends, work or another.
By taking a step back, and not taking panicked action, you can use the opportunity to identify your core values and how you want to be living your life – career, relationships, finance, geography, health & wellness etc. Once you know how you want your life to work you can identify what needs to change to be living that life.
Once you have identified your core values the next step is to figure out what you would like to change, and how you can go about making these changes. Writing down and acknowledging the truth about your life is the first step to creating the life of your dreams.
Remember your life is always living, breathing, and changing. Have you kept up with the pace of change?
If you are unsure where to start go to my core values exercise to help you identify what is truly important to you.
In the meantime, small changes can have a big impact and will lead to bigger changes over time. What is the one small thing you can start doing differently when you get out of bed tomorrow morning?