Do you find yourself longing to live a life fully aligned with your core values and your authentic self, but you have no idea where to begin? You couldn’t even name your values if someone asked, let alone explain what authenticity means to you. When people ask you what makes you happy, you don’t know what to say and you can’t remember the last time you felt a spark of true joy or contentment.
If this sounds like you, you are in good company. Most of us have put other people’s needs and wants before our own for so long that we’ve completely lost touch with what makes us feel truly aligned and alive. This can be overwhelming and, frankly depressing, when you are ready to make changes for the better but don’t know where to begin. Deep breaths… you don’t have to have the answers right now. You just have to start NOTICING.
Yes, the first step to designing a life you love is noticing how your mind, body and spirit reacts to and responds to the world around you. This can be really challenging when you just want to take action and be happy already. But I promise you, pausing to observe yourself within your current life will get you to your true flow living state faster than trying to blindly force your way into happiness.
So for the next few weeks, I invite you to start noticing.
- Notice your energy and interest levels as you go about your daily activities and interactions
- Notice what fills you up and what drains you
- Notice what sparks moments of joy or delight
- Notice what lights up your curiosity
- Notice what calls you to lean in
- Notice what makes you withdraw
- Notice the activities that make you lose track of time
- Notice what feels hard in the moment, but oh so satisfying when you move through it
- Notice what feels wrong or misaligned
- Notice where you are making yourself small, or silencing yourself in order to get along and get through
As you make this noticing an active daily practice, you’ll see patterns emerging about what and who energizes you, and what and who drains you. You’ll get clarity about where you are living in your values and authenticity and where you are living out someone else’s.
Gifting yourself this time of mindful noticing and reflection provides the information you need to move most successfully into action. Let what you have noticed guide you as you design your way forward into a life filled with wonder, joy and peace. Let it serve as a touchstone as you let go of the people, places and activities that diminish you and instead choose the things that give you strength to move through difficult times, that reflect your core values, and that allow you to embrace and embody your true flow and personal authority.
