How do you navigate in life?
What direction are you heading in? How did you decide?
Do you really know what’s important to you? Is your direction something you took time to reflect on deeply and decided upon consciously? Or were you cast in a mould, turned out, plugged in, given a little nudge and off you went! If you’re blindly following a map that someone else made, you might not be satisfied with where you ended up! Following your various levels of programming, until you finished up in a dead-end!
Set the direction of your compass
How do you set the direction of your life yourself? This can be a challenge since we receive so much programming from the outside, including from the environment, peers, friends, family, governments, and corporations. Much of the programming we take to be our own without having fully examined it.
In the dawn of AI and robotics, we are often the ones that are like little bots, reacting to life through our unconscious instructions rather than responding with clear awareness of what’s going on. However, we are beginning to wake up!
One way to create conscious choice is through more awareness. You can begin to deliberately choose the direction in which you’re heading by examining and clarifying the core values that you want to guide your life. In a word, what’s important to you, whether that’s about life in general, or in a specific area such as work.
What are the key values you want to live into through your life or work?
To discover a direction, you might have to create a space to listen. Be still. Getting beyond the surface chatter of the mind is key. Some clues to a direction can be gained through looking at what inspires you and gives you joy. It might take some reflection and clarification, so it’s often useful to do it with someone else who holds the space for you to explore.
Alongside examining your values, you may want to consider what a particular area of your life means for you. What does work mean to you, for example? Why work? What’s it for?
Through this process of questioning, you can surface greater clarity about your direction, allowing you to know more precisely where you wish to go.
So you’ve got a clear direction in which you are heading. What happens next?
Well, start walking! You don’t need to have everything fully defined to start moving. This can be the cause of much paralysis for people.
Try things out in a small way, experiment, prototype, and play! Pay attention to the terrain, see what works and what doesn’t. Get feedback to improve the direction and the route you’re taking. This principle is found in Design Thinking, an approach used by some of the largest, most innovative companies in the world. The same method can be applied to create what you want in life / work.
Get moving, take action
Instead of pushing, forcing and insisting, look for a direction that you’re pulled towards, one that energises you. It amazes me that we often go in directions that drain us! How can that be sustainable? Surely, moving in a way that energises you and is meaningful is the only viable route to take in the long-term! Many of us are insisting and pushing along our working lives in such a way they are not aligned with us or our values, and therefore not sustainable in the long term. Sooner or later there is a backlash, often through burnout or illness such as depression.
So, listen for that impulse to move in a direction you’re drawn to. Take a step, a small step.
When there is already movement, it is easier to adjust the direction. Imagine a getting a boulder moving. Initially it’s hard to get any movement. There is inertia. However, once it’s moving, it requires relatively little energy for you to adjust it’s course. Even a complete change in direction can be achieved since you’re using the momentum already gained. In fact, any direction is better than sitting by the boulder ruminating about which direction you want to push it in!
Show up and get moving, even if you’re unsure of the step you’re taking.
The process of taking small steps has the benefit of giving you feedback. Each time you take a step, if you listen carefully, you will be able to gauge if you are moving in the right direction or not. In prototyping towards positive change feedback is valuable.
Reading the Compass
So how do you know if you’re still heading in the right direction after a while? By taking a reading on your compass. But what is the compass?
Well, that’s you! You are the compass!
In a similar way to how you set your initial direction, tune into your body and emotions, they are giving you information. Your feelings of satisfaction, fulfilment and joy are indicators as to whether you’re heading in the right direction. Feel and sense your way forward. If you pay attention, you will start to notice patterns in what raises your energy and drains it.
When you meet a new person you can often get a feeling for whether you want to spend time in this person’s company. Rather like an internal yes or no, our bodies are communicating whether people or situations are in our interest and resonate with us. A YES often has an expansive, opening, up type feel. A NO normally is a contracting, closing, down sensation. Begin to notice these often subtle signals. They can be quite unique for each person. The first thing to do is to notice and get to know your YES and your NO.
You can do a simple test.
Stand still arms by your side, eyes closed.
Take a few deep breaths.
Bring your attention into the body, letting any thoughts arising to just pass. Say to yourself, “Show me NO”.
Take note of the posture, feelings, sensations in the body.
Now open your eyes, move a little bit and repeat the procedure with the phrase, “Show me YES”.
Once you have your YES and NO clear you can use it to inform you about decisions you need to make.
So while you’re on the journey, you check within, taking a reading every now and then to see if you’re on track. If you’re not, take time to reflect on what is not working and adjust the course accordingly.
To facilitate this tuning in to your compass, practices such as meditation can be helpful. Be quiet. Make space to listen. Spend time in nature if you can. Activate your body.
Refining the Compass
By observing the unfolding journey, correlating the
There are ways that you can interfere with the accuracy and reliability of your compass, rather like a magnet placed next to it. Stress, worry and overthinking do not aid being able to take a good reading. Anxiety and fear of making a mistake might not help. This often comes from a need to control, which when you think about it isn’t the best travelling companion on an adventure into the Unknown. Let go of control and trust. Be willing to be led.
You may want to know what’s around the corner and that you’ll be safe, however the best way to ensure that is the case, is to stay present, alert and tuned into your navigation system. In general, an overly chattering mind can be like a heavy fog between you and your clarity. Stay in the place of awareness. A still point allowing you to read your compass with a steady hand.
As you navigate in life with your inner compass, it builds skills which can be applied in all types of terrain and situations, since it fosters self-reliance. You develop to become self-guided, not so reliant on external maps. Like a zen warrior, remain empty and alert! Observing, listening to what wants to happen next. Open for the answers to come to you, easily and effortless, without stress and strain, the path unfolding before you, everything perfectly synchronised as some majestically orchestrated masterpiece.
Wishing you Flow, in learning how to navigate in life. Enjoy the journey!
Photo by Hello I’m Nik on Unsplash
