As someone who has always been environmentally aware if not active I have been remarkably silent about Fridays for future. I wondered why until this week it became awkward and abundantly clear.
Greta Thunberg makes me feel uncomfortable.
Not because I don’t agree with her. I do. So very very much.
The reason Greta makes me feel uncomfortable because she is a constant mirror reminding me that I am not living with integrity.
And I am guessing I am not the only one. Well there wonuæd be so much Greta hating in the news right now if there wasn’t.
What Greta does, honestly and simply is to remind us all of our inconsistencies. She lives out her principals in front of us. Despite ridicule. Greta’s passion. Her ability to walk her talk and embody her principals is hella inspiring. And for those of you like me that aren’t following their principals hella good at making us feel ashamed. Consciously or unconsciously. And that only highlights our own inconsistencies.
For example, this nature loving vegetarian person has been neglecting to avoid using plastic, has been known to frequent fast food restaurants and is practically a patron of supporting a corrupt world wide company because I say that I am addicted to their soda. Now how the heck does that run along with one of my core values which is taking care of the planet. Sure I gave up meat. That was hard. But when I don’t really live my principles in full unconsciously I know it and somewhere in the back of my head there is a little guilt voice nagging at my sense of guilt and self worth.
Now it may be that your principles are nothing to do with being an environmentalist. That’s fine each to their own. But say one of your values is honesty in relationships, then you tell a white lie about how much that new top cost you. Or you place family high on your values yet haven’t spoken to your brother for 2 months because you have been too busy.
Ralph Waldo Emerson said,
“Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind.”.
And I agree.
So Greta you have given me a gift you wise child and damn inspiring young woman. And that gift is a check in with my own values and integrity. To ask myself do I know what my values are? Do I live a life of integrity? Do I walk my talk?
I created a process a while ago called Life integrity check-in. A quick 15-minute tool to reassess life, check in with values and to consciously check in that I really am living a life of integrity. You might be thinking why bother? I walk my talk. But do you really?
When did you last check in with your values?
When did you last reassess your life to see if you are prioritising or ignoring the things that are most important to you?
15 mins of checking in with yourself and connecting with your values is going to make you feel better. Either you will find some inconsistencies and figure out how to fix them or if you really are living a life that exemplifies your values you will get a nice self confidence boost.
I invite you to try the following process. It will help you to really see where you are, how you are living and if this really is the way you want to live.
Life Integrity check
Step 1: The question to ask yourself is this: What is truly important to me in life?
Brainstorm a list of your values as your answers to this question. Be specific. So some of my list looks like this (In no particular order of importance):
Heath and Happiness
Mr T
Having a home I love
My cats
Nature
My spiritual path
Doing a job I love
My bro
My parents
Inspiring people
Writing
Being creative
Learning
Taking care of my planet
Gardening and making stuff from scratch
Step 2: Ask yourself- what is really important to you this list?
The next step is to prioritize your list. This is the most difficult step because it requires some intense thinking.
Identify the top value, then the second highest value, and so on until you’ve rebuilt the whole list in order of priority from the top to the bottom. So you may begin by asking yourself these questions: Which of these values is truly the most important to me in life? If I could only satisfy one of these values, which one would it be? The answer to this question is your number one value. Then move down the list and ask which remaining value is the next most important to you, and so on, until you’ve sorted the whole list in priority order.
Step 3: Now ask the question How much are my values prioritised in my life?
We may have these values but do we prioritise them? Go through your list. Put a smiley 🙂 next to those that are visibly prioritised in your life, an uncertain emoji for values you sort of prioritise and a sad face 🙁 for values that are not prioritised at all.
It’s quite interesting to look at. I found that I was only prioritising 14 of my values in my life. 9 things that were really important to me were only semi prioritised and somethings that I thought very important were not prioritised at all.
Step 4: Now ask yourself How would I like to prioritise my values in my life?
Now you can see what matters to you and what you are and are not prioritising, ask yourself “How would I like to prioritise my values in my life?” We all do only have 24 hours in a day and of course, we would love to fill every moment of the day as we liked. But this is not always possible. So you have a choice of daily, monthly and weekly. Assign this to each of your values. Basically, you are choosing how you will prioritise your time according to your values.
Once you have assigned Daily, weekly and monthly to each of your values rearrange them in the order of daily, weekly and monthly. This gives you a new and unique perspective on your values and what is important to you.
Step 5: Now ask yourself What can I do to make this a reality in my life?
In the last step, you created a wish list of how you would like to live with integrity. Now you need to plan your action. Make a practical mini goal for each value of how you will prioritise this daily, weekly or monthly in your life. So, for example, I have ‘Making memories and having adventures’ as something I value and wish to do on a monthly basis. So I have to make sure there is a time in my calendar every month for an adventure day with Mr T, or a good friend to have an adventure and make a memory.
Prioritise these goals in the order you would like to start introducing them into this month. Don’t try and do everything at once. Choose a few (maybe one monthly, one weekly and one daily) and start to create these fantastic new habits that mean you are living a life of integrity. Put this month’s goals somewhere you can see them and make it so
——————————————————-
Remember to book in your calendar next month ’s life integrity assessment. Remember your values change. Maybe next month you would like to focus on something else. For example, I know that my health and Me time is high on the list this month as I need to recover. However next month it might be spending time with my Mr T. You may just choose new goals to start to fulfil from the list you make today or you may find that you make new goals. This system is as flexible as you and will change with the ebb and flow of your life keeping you true to yourself always.
And when we stay true to ourselves we are happier and isn’t that what it is all about
So I have to say thank you Greta not just for the fight you are taking on, the hard position you are putting yourself in by being a leader of a worldwide movement, for fighting for a better future, for being brave enough to face the attacks despite the challenges you face doing the right thing and walking your talk.
But MOST of all thank you Greta for waking and shaking up not just the world, but for waking me up again and reminding me of what I truly believe in and reminding me to walk my talk.
Have a wonderful week <3
Pingback: Try the 3 layers of practicing self love (during COVID) | RE:ROOT
Pingback: Lessons learnt from a Summer of Self-love | RE:ROOT