Your Values Compass for Successful Life and Career Navigation
If you are traveling somewhere for the first time and aren’t quite sure exactly how to get there, you might use a Global Positioning System (aka GPS) for directions. A GPS not only provides directions for how to get to your planned destination, but it also provides the best routes to travel to avoid heavy traffic, road closures, or alternative routes. It also provides you with an estimation of how long it may take you to travel to your destination based on your current location as well as the projected time of your arrival. Just by plugging in where you want to go, in a matter of seconds, you have a well-laid out, turn-by-turn set of directions – and if you want, a map of your full travel route. The GPS will also redirect you if you miss or make a wrong turn. The system will alert you that it is recalculating from where you are to get you back on course. In fact, it will keep recalculating over and over again until you reach your programmed destination, enter a new one, or turn it off. And the system never seems to get irritated with you for not following its direction or advice. It’s like a failsafe way of getting to where you want to go. Imagine if we had this feature for all areas of our life! Well, we kind of do -it’s called your values. Your values are your inner compass and navigation system. If you listen to your values, they will let you know if you are on the right path or if you are going in the wrong direction. Most of the time your value compass lets you know you are headed in the right direction because things seem to just fall in line perfectly – things just seem to be in sync. You feel passionate and energized by what you are doing, or it could be the sense of peace and calmness that resonates within your mind, body, and soul. You know when you are off track because there’s a disruption to what was once bringing you a sense of calm, joy, or satisfaction. It’s clear because you know what it feels like to be headed in the right direction. But what if you are new to the journey and haven’t experienced what it’s like to fully utilize your values compass? It can feel confusing, overwhelming, frustrating, or like you are completely lost.
Your values act as an internal compass that helps you understand your belief system, what’s important to you, and the behaviors or actions that align with those beliefs. They shape how you view life, your purpose, and the meaning of your life. When you listen to your values, they help you make decisions based on your beliefs and point you in the right direction. When you ignore or turn off your values, your body sends you recalculating signals over and over again to help you get back on track.
Life is a journey with an unknown final destination. Unlike a GPS where we can put in a destination and get directions, life doesn’t let us know in advance what that final destination is, so our values are a way of letting us know we’re on track to our destination, wherever it may be. When we trust our values as our life compass, the journey has fewer bumps and bruises, fewer detours, and is a much smoother and more enjoyable ride. During the ride, we get to see our dreams coming to fruition and experience a sense of peace and joy along the way that feels like riding in a car with the windows down on a beautiful summer day with the wind blowing in your hair. You are excited to go wherever the ride takes you because the road you are traveling is the road paved just for you. Destination you!
There’s no recalculating when you follow your values compass. Your arrival time is always the right time. Where will you let your values compass take you?