What is an inner compass? It is the quiet knowing each person has inside him or herself. This knowing is a guide for living. It helps you make good choices and avoid bad situations. Your inner compass tells you where you are emotionally and can convert that information into direction. Usually by the time you are an adult, your inner compass has been overridden. It is still there, don’t worry about that. There is a louder social compass that you have been taught to listen to instead. This social compass is important as it allows you to navigate the outer world, hold down jobs, maintain relationships. It teaches you how to cooperate and pay attention to the needs of others. The social compass should be a secondary guide though. Your inner compass is true north for you. So how do you develop an inner compass, or activate it? Here are a few suggestions.
- Determine your values.
What are your values? I don’t mean the rules in your head that control your actions. What are the things in life you truly value? For example, are you a punctual person? Why? Is it because you respect others’ time? Do you want to make a good impression? Do you like to be the first person at an event so you can more easily control your environment? Maybe you like to keep your commitments. Each of these reasons reflect a different value. Punctuality is the behavior and perhaps it is the rule you want to follow but the why behind it reveals your values. Think about all the things that you do or feel strongly about and discover the value behind your behaviors and actions. Just to get you started, here is a list of a few values that I find are common among people I talk to.
Connection
Freedom
Respect
Honor
Kindness
Support
Discipline
Hard Work
Determination
Ambition
Humor
See if you can make your own list based on your actions and what you feel is important. You may also discover your values by noticing what makes you angry or irritated that others do or do not do. What do you judge in others? We usually judge others by our own values. That can be an easy way to discover them.
- Pay attention to emotions
Emotions are an important indicator of values. How we feel is our data center for self-awareness and understanding. Have you ever noticed how one person can feel really upset or angry and you may feel humorous by the same experience? This is in part due to the difference in values. When I feel big emotions like grief, joy, anger, all of them point me toward what I value. Emotions can guide you when you understand their relationship to your values.
- Notice your thoughts
Thoughts too are information about the subconscious What are the thoughts you keep pushing away? What is the first thought that comes to mind in a given situation? Our tendency is to dismiss those first thoughts. Go back to them, at least give them some airtime and see if they are useful. They are often the compass giving you direction. Also pay attention to the thoughts that you refuse to entertain. Usually, the thoughts we resist have important information in them and need to be examined at least.
- What are the results?
So what are the results of your life? Are you going in a direction you like and approve of going? Are you proud of yourself and your accomplishments regularly? Do you like who you are in all situations? The results are the ultimate test of the functionality and reliability of your inner compass. If my compass takes me to a place I don’t like or feel is out of alignment my compass needs adjustment.
- Making small choices
Start small. Make a choice and see where it leads. Do you like where it takes you? Did it yield positive results? Is your compass well developed and working properly? Your inner compass keeps you grounded, on track and provides a sense of purpose and meaning to your life.
