Living in alignment with what you value most
One of the fundamental components to living a healthy, balanced life is the process of continual realignment. For many, this might be a foreign concept. Let’s break it down. I’ll start with the key themes of continual realignment, then unpack how to use this practice to bring more stability and joy into your daily life.
Life is a highway
To understand the concept of continual realignment, imagine this metaphor with me. Think of your life like a car. You have your big-picture destination in mind, and you’re always planning your route. At any given time, you can really only see a short ways out in front of you. So you’re going to need some help figuring out a plan to get you where you want to go.
If you’re anything like me, you probably use GPS to help you navigate from where you are right now, to where you’d like to end up. In a perfect world, your GPS is always run by your core values: those sentiments you hold nearest and dearest to your heart. They know where you’re headed in the big picture, and can help you chart a course to get there.
Roadblocks and distractions
But at the end of the day, we’re only human. For most of us, our GPS can get easily distracted, steering us on detours and stops when something shiny comes along. If they’re only occasional detours, these deviations are no problem at all. But over time, they add up fast, introducing murkiness to our route and steering us further off course and away from our final destination.
In this metaphor, distractions are the role social media often plays in our lives. Without awareness, our addiction to social media has the potential to transform from a tiny occasional detour into a major course-altering roadblock.
Imagine if we were in our car headed to an appointment and our GPS was constantly telling us to turn onto a side street, to stop at a shopping mall, to pause in front of a billboard. We’d never tolerate it. We’d say our GPS is broken, that we had places to be. So why do we put up with this level of distraction in our day-to-day lives?
Keys to continual realignment
I had an illuminating conversation about this very topic recently with Jay Vidyarthi for the JOMO(cast). As one of the creators of Muse, a headband that utilizes biofeedback to guide and train meditation, Jay and his team helped introduce thousands of beginners to an accessible world of mindfulness practice. Jay thinks of all the harm and suffering we deal with while we learn to harness the power of technology as a design challenge—one we absolutely have the power to overcome.
So what does it take to overcome the many distractions and detours life throws our way? Ultimately, I like to break the process of continual realignment down to four themes: awareness, intention, commitment, and repeat.
Awareness: Start by taking a step back to assess. Identify what your most important core values are, and what common roadblocks steer you off course.
Intention: Next, define some goals. What do you want to cut out of your life? How can you create more space for joy?
Commitment: The best-laid plans mean nothing without naming concrete, actionable steps. Consider your intentions, and decide what specific action(s) you’ll take to transform your intentions into daily habits. Master one before moving onto the next.
Repeat: And then comes the final piece—perhaps the most important one. Our work is never done. It’s essential we continue to revisit this loop, because the moment we think we have it conquered is the moment we give up on our awareness and the whole system breaks down.
So, remember to revisit this loop often. Keep practicing, and stay curious. Little by little, you’ll notice a difference, as the detours on your journey become few and far between. And, over time, that difference will compound until eventually, you’re living a profoundly different life—one full of meaning and joy.
For more on this topic, consider watching the powerful Netflix documentary The Social Dilemma, which dives deep into this exact topic and dissects why our addiction to social media runs so deep. And, once you’ve had a chance to watch the film, consider reading Jay’s thoughtful review.
My signature program, The JOMO Method™, focuses on teaching you daily, weekly, and monthly digital practices to keep you on the road to joy. I hope you’ll join us.
