Are Your Decisions Aligned with Your Values?

Have you ever felt like you have too many hobbies, interests, skills and talents? I’ve felt like this, and in many ways it’s blessing - after all, there was a point in my past where I didn’t feel this way at all and had no particular drive or interest to do anything. But when it comes to entrepreneurship and completing projects, it can be really difficult to make decisions because of these multiple passions and possibilities.

Throughout the years of trying many, many different things and considering various career paths, I realized that you must be clear on not only what skills and interests you want to pursue, but also know what values you have and what kind of lifestyle you want. Most of the times when I’ve ran into a dead end or have gotten burned out is when these two things are misaligned. It’s easy to think that a certain path or career is right for you, especially if you start to define yourself as a certain archetype (artist, writer, programmer, designer) then you begin to copy others that associate themselves with the same title.

The truth is, we are are all so unique that the life we want most is often one we have to design ourselves. Most people I see generally know what kind of skills and interests they have, but when it comes to lifestyle and values, they either haven’t given it much thought or feel really boxed into what their social circles currently look like and don’t look beyond that.

After knowing your skills, interests and values, think about which potential opportunities are MOST exciting to you. Not just what seems the easiest or most feasible, but what is your highest excitement? Often it’s something that you have limiting beliefs around - notice what the voice in your head is saying about how you can or can’t have this thing, or what qualifications you need before you can start doing it.

Building this awareness about what your values are, where your highest excitement is, and what thoughts say you can or cannot do will start to reveal to you how your life currently is incongruent with how you want it to be. Once this awareness is build, we can start shifting our beliefs and make new decisions that are truly aligned with ourselves.

All my love,

Ai

This week’s journal prompts:

• What are your top 3 values? What do each of them mean to you? (examples of values: freedom, creativity, family, community, wellness, spirituality, growth, adventure, beauty, luxury)
• Amongst all the things you want to do, what is your highest excitement? Consider these questions while thinking about this: If money wasn’t an issue, what would you pursue? What about if nobody would judge you? If you couldn’t fail? If you didn’t have any responsibilities or didn’t feel obligated to anyone?

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