CORE VALUES - YOUR ROAD MAP TO PERSONAL FULFILMENT

We so often disregard or ignore our core values, that is, if we are aware of them at all. Yet the fact remains that they lie at the heart of whether or not we can ever feel happy and fulfilled in our lives.

These values are the essence of us – in the most profound sense they are what make us tick. That is why, when reflecting on our values we need to take time and think very carefully because they provide us with the compass to our happiness in business, our families, our recreation – in every aspect of our lives.

It's not hard to make decisions when you know what your values are

Roy Disney (1893 - 1971)

Simply stated, if what we think, how we behave and the choices we make, are not compatible with our core vales, we cannot be happy – it’s just not possible. The alternative is we will make do and live in a state of perpetual compromise. Within us, however, there will be a dissonance and an emotonal fault line that will trace a path between the way we live on one side and our natural and harmonious state on the other.

Of course, in this life, we have to make compromises but there is a direct correlation between how well our lives fit with our core values and how happy and fulfilled we feel. The same is true in the workplace. Our core values and those of our employer must also be compatible. It is in the interest of business owners to ensure that the values of the business and those of their employees can dovetail, to a greater or lesser extent because if they do not there will be a high instance of staff turnover, absenteeism & disaffection.

So often in these tough economic times people have to accept jobs when they can find them with the consequent strain that this can put on every aspect of their lives. This does not mean, however, that we should not at least plan and begin to work towards changing our lives to a point where we can feel the fulfilment and happiness we deserve. If we take the time to acquaint ourselves with our core values we will at least be able to understand the direction our heart and soul wishes us to travel - we will comprehend fully who we really are beneath the decades of social conditioning - and make a reality the person we were always destined to become.

Alan Keyse is a fully qualified Business and Life Coach who now applies his 30 years of experience as a sales executive to coaching Emotional Intelligence to business leaders, executives, managers and their staff either in one-to-one sessions, in groups, or speaking to larger audiences. 

Alan Keyse

keysforliving.org

email Alan

MEDITATION IN BUSINESS: IT WORKS!

In a frenetic, noisy and obsessive world, the ability to disengaging from the hurly burly can prove invaluable, most particularly when we are trying to find inspiration to fire our inner motivation. In my own experience I found that the ability to be able to step back and observe events in the moment, with a certain detachment from negative emotions, is as potent a skill, especially in business. 

Meditation comes in many forms and is not the intention to discuss here techniques or philosophies: there is bountiful information on this subject both online and in print - the important thing is to cast off preconceptions and take a look.

At a bare minimum, meditation it can have very straightforward applications for the busiest of schedules, in fact the busier and more stressful life gets, the more essential it is to develop such skills. This fact has been embraced by a number of corporations including Apple, Google, Nike and HBO to name but a few.

SO, WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS THAT MEDITATION CAN OFFER? 

THE MONKEY MIND

We all experience this: the incessant inner dialogue that occupies our minds for much of our day - a constant flow of thoughts tumbling like lottery balls, with no beginning, middle or end. So how can our thought process, so congested, be expected to work effectively for us? Surely, if we are able to quieten the chatter there can be greater benefits for us than allowing it to carry on. 
     Even a brief period of contemplation each day is a good start – it’s just a matter of engaging with the present moment when time is set aside for being alone with ourselves. Like all skills, excluding all unnecessary thoughts does take practice, but in learning to do so benefits can be felt from the beginning. Of course the relaxation can be reward enough but there’s far more than that:

CLARITY

With a calm and uncluttered mind comes clarity and with it determination, as we see what needs to be done whether we are beginning to set goals or in need of reinforcing our resolve after a difficult day. When we tame the internal chatter we find, in its place, calm and simplicity - what better state is there for making good decisions?

FOCUS

With the mind thus soothed we will also find it far less likely that we shall be knocked off our course by distractions. We refocus on the priorities and goals we set ourselves. We can rediscover those emotions that inspired us when we first decided upon a course of action and so launch ourselves, refreshed, into making a reality of our dreams.

CONTROL

We take control of our thoughts because if we do not do it then someone else will try do it for us abdicating our free will, albeit subconsciously, and following the agenda of others. Alternatively we drift on autopilot leaving our most important decisions to instincts, emotions, and learned reactions. If our own hands are on the steering wheel, however, we can be sure of our ideas, as our thoughts are stripped back to their bare essentials. There is no waste, just the burning desire to carry through the goals we have set.

CONNECTION

Meditation connects us directly to the very core of ourselves, our essence - in other words, the things that really make us tick. Nothing is more important as we cannot be truly happy or feel fulfilment if we are not at one with our core values.

And regular meditation can do all this? Of course not, but it helps us to do it. All meditation does is give us the choices, and in this life, clear choice is a precious resource available to us all, we just have to 'dig' a little.

Alan Keyse is a fully qualified Business and Life Coach who now applies his 30 years of experience as a sales executive to coaching Emotional Intelligence to business leaders, executives, managers and their staff either in one-to-one sessions, in groups, or speaking to larger audiences. 

Alan Keyse

keysforliving.org

email Alan