How to use your core values as your life's compass

Did you see the recent news articles that biologists have finally been able to prove that sharks use the earth's magnetic field as a compass to find their way back home again? How fascinating!

As you may know, some great white sharks travel over 12,000 miles every year between South Africa and Australia. They swim a nearly perfect straight line across the ocean, then turn around, and travel back. They somehow manage to find their way home every year without Google maps, without a GPS, and without any street signs to guide them.

How do they do it? Biologists have finally proven that sharks, along with some other animals, use the Earth’s magnetic field as their compass. How cool is that? This brings back memories of my Brownie Girl Scout days when we were taught to use a compass (and still often got lost).

Exactly how they sense magnetic fields remains a mystery. One theory is that they have magnetic crystals, which sense true north, embedded somewhere in their brains or nervous systems. Another is that magnetic fields affect receptors in their visual systems, superimposing colors or light patterns over their vision, like an augmented-reality headset. Perhaps north appears as a reddish tint, and an animal simply follows that color. If you want to read more about this, [click here].

For we humans, who don't have the amazing ability to leverage the Earth's magnetic fields to guide us, what can we use as a compass to guide us in our lives? I believe it's our individual core values. They can guide us and tell us what directions to go. Do you know your core values?

Values embody what is most important to us. They are the essence of the things that mean the most to us. Once you know your core values, they can really help guide you in figuring out what is important and how you can lead a more meaningful life. Some values change through your life, but some of them will be pretty constant.

Sometimes the best way to explain values is to give an example. One of my values is Dependability. For me, dependability means showing up when I promised I would and following through on my commitments. This shows up as being reliable and someone to count on. I honor this value by choosing carefully what I commit to (and saying a frank no to requests I don't intend to honor) and then following through in a timely and high-quality manner. I am known as someone you can count on.

When you honor your values, it can help bring happiness and fulfillment into your life. It can act as a compass telling you what direction to go in.

Below is a list of core values often used in leadership training. You might want to circle 3-4 values that are core to you and use those as a compass to guide your life's decisions. You can also download the list here: List of Core Values.pdf

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While I'm on the topic of amazing ocean animals, such as the great white shark, you might have heard by now that the movie "My Octopus Teacher" recently won an Oscar for Best Documentary (Feature). This story of a man and his relationship with an octopus in the cold, cold waters off Cape Town’s peninsula won over a number of heavy hitter documentaries. If you don't know what I'm talking about, I invite you to read my blog post titled "What an Octopus Can Teach Us About Life". [Click here]. If you haven't watched the movie yet, you might want to make a date with Netflix this weekend.

Best,

Christine

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