Today, maybe more than ever, let values, contribution and purpose, together, be your North Star. Let your North Star set your Bearing! (yep, I just made that connection). And really it's because the way you bear up under today’s strain will really depend on those three things!
At work, your values today better line up with the values of the organization you work for or else, the cognitive dissonance will be one more stressor for you.
What contribution does your company make toward others? What contribution does your work make to your colleagues, the company or your customers?
And what goes away if you stop working for this company? Or if the company goes out of business? What will be lost? If you can answer that you will be at the beginning of knowing the purpose, the “why” of you being there.
Similarly, in the rest of your life - which is hopefully bigger than work - your values, if you honour and live by them, and the contribution you make to others (something you selflessly do that means the world to someone else), can make a solid difference in your own happiness and mental health!
I guess the reason I write this today is that I’m hoping that if more people did the work to figure out what’s really important to them (choose something you think is important and then get through 5 levels of asking “why” and see where you land), and they could take a leap (give up some time, inconvenience themselves a little) to do something selfless for someone else, there would be less friction around us today.
And with less friction, there might be fewer people dying, many more open minds, less defensiveness and more support for each other. And, people working and living better!
So, what’s “really” important to you? Do you honour / live by those things every day?
What contribution have you made to someone else today?
You see, if you connect with your values and are a contribution, on a daily basis, the super bonus for you is that your purpose will start to take shape and become clearer. And, that will truly be your North Star. What’s more, after a while, you may just end up setting a Bearing that will take you further than you ever figured you could go! And, you’ll be happier and healthier, today and in the future!