Have you noticed I have been writing and posting more articles lately? Well November is National Blog Posting Month and I decided to participate! Every November, thousands of bloggers pledge to post every single day, including holidays and weekends, to their blog site. I am committed to writing an article every single day for 30 days; so far I have made six days and I’ve read some great articles from other bloggers. I know there will days I will not feel like writing and I will have to push myself but I am excited to see what I will create. Who knows, it could be the beginning of my next book!
Writing is something I love to do and I haven’t been making it a priority in my life. It was one of those things that I say I love to do, but I wasn’t doing it. I was doing the things that I felt I needed to do, but not the things I am passionate about. How about you? Do you talk about what’s important to you but find that you are not doing those things? We talk about the priorities in our lives but are we really treating them like a priority? We tend to put these things on the back burner, making excuses on why we can’t do these things. If we think about our relationships, we say our families are important to us but we go off to work, bring work home with us and we just don’t have quality time for our kids, husband, wife, partner, etc. You don’t have time for them but you say they are the priority in your life?
We have to stop, pause and check-in with ourselves; We don’t do this often enough. I know there are people who intentionally do this – check-in at least once a quarter, twice a year, or once a year taking time to really think about what I call are our signature values. This is when you spend time thinking about the things that are most important to you. After you identify these things, look at how you are treating these values in your life. Are you really doing the things you want to do? In looking at this, you may find what you think is your priority isn’t really your priority.
If you are married or are in a relationship have the conversation with your spouse or partner. Review your signature values together. One couple I worked with went through this exercise and realized their values were totally different and they were headed in different directions in life – they had some decisions to make. Fortunately they had the conversation before they said I do.
What you valued in your 20’s, before you landed that dream job, before you had a spouse, before you had children, can change. You aren’t obligated to stick with the same values for your entire life. As life changes, as you grow and experience life, your values will change. But if you are not stopping to see what your values are and if you are honoring your values by truly making them a priority, you can’t truly be happy. When you are not living in alignment with your values, you are merely existing, going from day to day living a mediocre lifestyle. You are not living up to your full potential. This is not how you should live life. Life should be full of joy, full of passion. You will have challenges and there will be things that you can not control. You can’t control someone elses behavior, you can only influence it.
Stop and ask yourself three questions – “What is it that I value most in life?”; “Am I truly living in alignment with my values?”; and “What am I really making a priority in my life?” When I asked myself these questions recently and walked myself through the process of assessing my sign
ature values, I knew I needed to make a few changes. This is why I decided to participate in National Blog Posting Month. I am finally spending time doing something I am passionate about and it feels great! You can check out all my articles I write on my blog at http://www.infinitycoaching.net/blog. You can also follow the hashtags #NaBloPoMo or #CheerPeppers on social media to see other blog articles posted this month. If you would like to learn more about the Signature Values Exercise that has been transformational with my clients, you can schedule an appointment or send an email to cowens@infinitycoaching.net. Until next time, Here’s to your success!
Carolyn R. Owens has over 25 years of proven experience and serves as a Career Strategist, Leadership and Life Coach. She is the Chairwoman and CEO of Infinity Coaching, Inc. where they help you up-level your skills so you can up-level your income. Infinity Coaching, Inc. provides one-on-one and group coaching coaching, organizational training, personality assessments and a signature program, the Infinity Coaching Inner Circle. Find out more at https://infinitycoaching.net
