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| Photo Credit: SweetonVeg |
Yesterday I posted about facing some of my own fears when it comes to growing my business. One of the lessons I have learned is you have to know what you are working towards, know what you value and what you believe in. If you don’t have this foundation it is a lot more challenging to forge on when things get challenging.
Yesterday, Lynn at Power Chicks wrote a similar post talking about her own fears and how she recently came back to figuring out what she believes as her guiding force. When you can name what you stand for, what you believe, or what you value, you can return to that foundation as the road gets bumpy, curvy and just plain fogged in.
For example, if you believe living a life of integrity is most important, than decisions you make, careers you think about and people you engage with should all support your integrity value. Similarly, if you believe a loving family eats dinner every night, than the priorities you set and the decisions you make all support that belief. Or if you believe responsible people pay their bills on time…you will do everything in your power to make that happen and fulfill that belief.
Our beliefs are like a guiding light, they make us who we are and structure our day to day lives. It is just a rarity that we say them out loud. One of the exercises I have all my clients do is a Values exercise, I have them name their top 5 values and then I have them share how they are living those values in their life and career right now. So frequently the pain and discomfort we feel in our lives is when we aren’t congruent with our values. I believe one of the keys to being happier is to align our values with our day to day actions the best we can. Admittedly we can’t always do that do to life circumstances, past decisions or the people around us. However, the goal is to start building awareness around what you really believe is important to you and what are the small changes you can implement to make those beliefs congruent with your lifestyle.
So today I ask you to think about and share in the comments (if you are so inclined) What do you believe?
-I believe in doing what I say I will do, and not just giving lip service to satisfy others.
-I believe in supporting others to live up to their best self, especially when they are experiencing doubts and struggles. (Believing in others when they can’t believe in themselves)
-I believe in a loving, personal God who loves me and who will never leave me alone.
-I believe in kindness, and giving others the benefit of the doubt until they show me otherwise.
-I believe that I must take the lead in taking care of myself, my body, my $, my time, my emotions. Others may be supportive but the primary responsibility is mine.
-I believe in balancing play and work.
Awesome Beth!! Thanks for sharing–I love them all but especially #4 and 5–I mean seriously if we would all live by just those 2 the world would be a better place!!! It feels powerful to read them I hope it felt as powerful to right them!!
Beth, I love what you wrote. All very simple yet powerful. It’s a great demonstration of how the smallest things aren’t at all, and that beliefs don’t need to be so all encompassing or fancy.
When I first read Nancy’s post, I started to think about the gap between belief and self. Nancy, you mentioned this in terms of lack of congruence. That’s the thing isn’t it? It can be easy to pick up beliefs, so much so they’re practically store bought, but the ones that truly belong to us are the ones which honor our essential nature – whatever that may be.
I think a man could aspire to say I want to be good, I want to be perfect, I want to be charitable but can do more harm if this he can’t be present to himself as he is. The IS I think is the starting point where we can find the treasure of what really is US, who we are, and how that translates to what’s around us.
In that sense, I accept my current circumstances as a creation of even my self-beliefs and get to observe those without judgment or pity. With that acceptance, I can let what’s true for me emerge and flower. I can let that grow everything else.
I believe in truth, in kindness, in my fallibility and my compassion. I believe owning my space in the world isn’t meant to deprive others of theirs, or denigrate them. I believe we can all make a difference and that often, the opportunities to do that are already present in our vicinity. I believe everyone is unique and that can be both a blight or blessing at times. I believe in love.
I believe there’s room for all of us in this world and we can always make it better.
Oh I tell ya I am just giddy of here with the thoughtful responses! Amen the work is in the gap (isn’t it always) but the pain and suffering come in the lack one congruence or the lack of honesty of where we aren’t hitting our beliefs and maybe those beliefs aren’t serving us any more or are too much for our current circumstances!! As you said it’s not about judging the incongruence (which is our initial reaction AND where the pain and suffering arises) but accepting it and making the necessary change.
I love the belief of “owning my space in the world isn’t meant to deprive others of theirs or denigrate them.” Amen and Hallelujah to that one!!
Thanks for sharing! Love the conversation!!
Well, writing can be a bit of a lonely business. And I imagine as a coach, you’re seen as an endless resource of Ra-Ra-Ra. We all need encouragement and exchange.
I’m not sure how I found your blog, did the stars align? Was it serendipity? Does the fact that I want to change jobs have something to do with it? Haha.. all of the above. Mainly it’s resonance. A new world is truly coming, and I love being part of creating that everyday.
Yes, to more thoughtfulness and consideration. Yes, to honesty. And yes to asking the right questions rather than just trying to foist answers for the sake of it. Love your work and as you’ve noticed been loitering about lately!