As part of our self-discovery process of our “inner guidance system” (Passions/Unique Ability/Personal Mission & Values), values are the building blocks of happiness. Not only do they get you through the tough times (personally lead me through my recovery from alcoholism in 1985), but they lead you to new “highs”. While I hadn’t articulated my values in 1985, I knew my behaviors we not consistent with my perceived values. Actually I didn’t “discover” my top five values until the early 90’s through a process we now use with our clients. The significance of this for me was that it led me to leave my executive position to create The XLR8 Team, Inc. which among other things helps individuals and organizations articulate and live consistent with their stated values.
Over time, not only does this articulation of your top five values make your life happier, sometimes a new value appears that replaces one, because it “speaks” to you. Here’s a quote from one of my favorite daily inspirational messages from Abraham-Hicks that explains why some words are more powerful to us: “Words do not teach at all. It is life experience that brings you your knowing. But when you hear words that are a vibrational match to the knowing that you have accumulated, then sometimes it's easier for you to sort it all out.”
This happened to me when someone recommended a new book entitled Synchronicity: The Inner Path of Leadership by Joseph Jaworski in 1996, the year I started my coaching business full-time. I was familiar with the word, synchronicity, from my studies of Carl Jung, the psychiatrist who has been said to be the grandfather of positive psychology. He defined it as: “a collaboration between persons and events that seems to enlist the cooperation of fate.” You may have heard people say that “everything happens for a reason” or that “something happened right at the right time” that lead to significant changes in their lives. The key is: are you paying attention?
In this book, Joseph Jaworski argues that the right state of mind will make you the kind of person who can enlist the cooperation of fate and take advantage of synchronicity creating the conditions for “predictable miracles.”
So how do you create the right state of mind? For me it began by writing down what I described at the beginning of this blog as my inner guidance system. Since then there were countless “synchronistic” events that I may have missed, or been fearful of (ie. leaving my real job at a “bad” time - three kids (17, 14 & 8, a mortgage, etc.). Had I not had them written down and placed them on my wall (in my office, not on Facebook), I might not have figured out that this was the path I must take to find the courage to awaken to the magnificence of our limitless possibilities, The XLR8 Team’s vision for ourselves and for you.
As stated in the Amazon book review - "Synchronicity illustrates that leadership is about the release of human possibilities, about enabling others to break free of limits – created organizationally or self-imposed.” This then gave me the courage to create a leadership development coaching process that enabled people to awaken their inner guidance system that is there for all of us to discover.
What words have resonated with you recently? How did you integrate them into your passions, values and your life?" We’d love to hear from you.