Core Values: The Journey to Inner Knowing
Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom
In my 20s, I focused outward, watching everyone else.
Admittedly, questions like how do I feel? Who am I? What are my deepest held values? Didn’t enter my mind, and if they did, I had no tools or techniques to answer.
Subsequently, jobs, work cultures, and people often didn’t align with my inner self. Life felt like a dark and foreboding forest full of obstacles. I flew blind, crashing into heavy branches and forest demons. Among the stress and confusion, I remember falling into Sales jobs, and meeting similarly lost people. I often felt out of place, out of sync, and uncertain. Friday night drinks would drown out a sense of discomfort, but on Monday, I was back in the forest thinking: everyone else is doing this; maybe I just need to try harder?
One day, a wise old grey-haired man interviewed me for yet another sales job. He had a clipboard of psychological questions I’d never heard before. Months later he shared core values he had deduced from observing and interviewing me. It was like he knew my inner core.
A few years later I did my own personal core values work…what a prize to win! To deeply appreciate and know your inner values.
