Do you ever feel stressed, burnt-out, like you are doing way too much and perhaps even resenting others or your job and feeling constantly drained? These might be signs that you are living out of alignment with your core values.
When we are living in alignment with what really matters to us, aspects of our life start to flow with ease. Life ebbs and flows. There are times of struggle and times of bliss, nothing is permanent. But how to we create more times where we feel like life flows without the constant effort and stress?
Becoming aware.
The first step is to recognise that we are out of alignment. Signs that you are not living your core values may be:
· Feeling drained with every-day life and relationships
· Resenting the things that you do for others or in your job
· Not enjoying your job
· Not feeling like yourself
· Feeling physically and mentally exhausted
· Lack of confidence and self-esteem
Sometimes we are so busy trying to do all of the things, that we realise we are focusing our time and energy in the wrong places. Finding moments of stillness and a regular meditation practice is a great way to become aware of how we are feeling and start to dive deeper into our values.
Getting clear on our values.
Getting clear on what is important to us is a great way to live a life that is more aligned with our values, dreams and purpose. We can do this by using visualisation to imagine a time when we felt like our best self, when life was flowing with ease, and everything seemed to be working for us. We can also use journaling for deep inquiry. Some questions questions that may help us with this are:
· What is really important to me?
· What would I be doing right now if there were no obstacles?
· What lights me up?
· What do I enjoy doing?
· What am I doing when I feel like my best self?
Make a list, based on the answers to these questions, of your cores values. You may start with about 10 or so, but narrow them down to 3 or 4.
Do a life audit.
When you are clear on your values, ask yourself. What are you currently doing to live in alignment with your values? What can you eliminate? How can you live more in line with what is important to you?
Take Action.
After some self-reflection, you may identify massive changes that you need to shift in your life or there may be smaller, every-day changes or rituals you can implement. Either way, to start the momentum, you should take one small action straight away. For example, you may not be able to change your job right now, but you can put a plan into place and start looking at other career options. Or you can add a daily ritual that allow you to visualise your dream job and the type of person you need to be to get there. Remember keep it small and achievable. Even if it is just 5 minutes of deep breathing or meditation each day. When you perform this new action enough times, it becomes habit. Once this new ritual or action becomes ingrained into your routine, then you can then start to add more. Consistency (even if it is tiny) is key to creating long lasting change.
If you need a little help in creating more stillness in life, where you can actually check in and start living a life aligned with what is important to you we have a number of classes, events and retreats that can start you on your journey. Try one of our more meditative classes, our half days retreats or even a weekend retreat with our community.
To find out more about our retreats where you can really dive deep into finding out what matters to you click here.