I started seeing a chiropractor about 7 years ago.  Because my back or neck hurt?  No, my jaw.  I had been having some significant pain from TMJ, and while my specialist had been able to help alleviate some of it through a dental appliance I wear at night, I was still experiencing some of the pain and achiness in my jaw.  The specialist recommended chiropractic care.  In our first visit, my chiropractor talked with me about alignment and how easy it is for us to get our head and spine out of alignment.  Since then, the concept of alignment has been very much on my mind.

More and more in my work (and in my own life, if I’m being honest), I see how important alignment is:  aligning my activities with my needs, aligning my projects with my purpose, aligning my time with my priorities, aligning my work with my values.  Perhaps instead of a Life Coach, I’m really a Life Chiropractor, helping people align their whole lives with purpose!  

Values are one of the cornerstones for alignment.  Values are how we show up in the world and how we express ourselves.  They are how we uniquely live out what matters to us.  Just as with needs, we are each wired differently, and we have distinct values that impact how we define fulfillment.

When I go for a chiropractic adjustment, my doctor needs to find just the right place to apply pressure.  When considering our values, that pressure point for alignment is our decisions.  Whether these are major life planning decisions, or everyday decisions made in response to situations that arise, values can impact the choices we make and the degree to which we feel aligned with who we were created to be.

Planning decisions

While my life and work are different from yours, perhaps this personal example will help illustrate the impact that values can have on decisions about future directions.  Starting my business as a coach and facilitator, there have been tons of decisions to make, most especially in the areas of who I serve and what I uniquely offer.  I’ve experimented in a few areas, and I’ve considered opportunities in a few different directions.  But two of my core values are leadership and spirituality.  I know that I’m happiest and feel most fulfilled when my work is coming from and interweaving those two values, so that helps me intentionally choose and plan future directions for my business.  A third value is teaching.  Naming that value helps me acknowledge that I feel most fulfilled when I know that I’ve helped someone come to a new understanding or awareness – whether it’s through coaching, presenting, or blogging.  I’ve been grateful to have my core values as criteria by which I can set a course for my work.  They help me say “no” to that which is good so that I can “YES!” to that which is better or best for me.

Your turn:  What is one of your core values?  How has that value impacted a major life or work choice for you? What might you wish to change in your life or work to more fully live by your values?

Responding decisions

What about the day-to-day?  How do our values help us choose?  Again, an example: I was recently considering adjusting one of my services and creating a lower price point option.  I had the voices of lots of business experts in my head, telling me not to do that.  “Know your value.”  “If they can’t afford it, they’re not the people you’re meant to serve.”  “Don’t sell yourself short.”  But I weighed the situation against my corporate values, some of which are leading as servant, committed to excellence, integrity, creativity, and personal relationship.  My response became clear.  Developing this new offering was a creative way for me to be authentically responsive to individuals I cared about and still serve others with excellence.  Perhaps others would choose differently, but my values pointed me in a direction that I felt good about and honored my integrity.

Your turn:  What is a situation you’re currently facing that has you feeling a bit stuck?  What, if anything, becomes clearer when you bring that situation to your core values?

Need help with alignment?

Sometimes we have a nagging feeling that our life is just a bit out of alignment.  Perhaps a “values alignment” would help!  If you’re not quite sure what your core values are, join us later this month for Living Your Values, the next topic in the Wednesday Wisdom series.  I’ll share a simple assessment and some questions and tools that can help you live in deeper alignment with the values that are uniquely yours!