“Is everything okay with you…?” a colleague asked me after a meeting last week. A few days before that my wife asked me a similar question “Is there something happening that you have not told me about?”. I thought all was well, but they thought otherwise. There are times when the world around me can sense and see things that I cannot. I paused and asked myself to examine what was happening.
I do not have all the answers yet, but one thing is clear, I am a bit out of alignment. When the wheels of a car go out of alignment the driver and the passengers can feel the wobble. A quick trip to the service station is all that is needed to find out what is going on. Sometimes the tires need to be changed, sometimes they need to be rotated and there are a host of other ways in which to get things back on track again. Maybe I was not in the driver’s seat and had taken my hands off the steering wheel and that is why I missed the wobble when it first started showing up.
My colleague Gaurav Bhat posted this last week, and it resonated with me “What truly matters is finding joy and purpose in your chosen journey, be it in a corporate setting, the unpredictability of a start-up, or even opting out of the work race altogether.
The real measure of success isn’t about keeping up with trends or societal standards. It’s about self-improvement and aligning with your own values. Focus on bettering yourself daily, and you’ll find genuine fulfilment.”
Finding joy and purpose in my chosen journey involves making choices. As the machine of the world has sped up in a post-pandemic frenzy, to make up for lost time, I find myself rushing from one thing to the next with less and less downtime. One meeting to the next, one speaking engagement to the next stage, one workshop to the next with less time in between to prepare and think through how to deliver value. The more work that comes my way the more excited I get because I love the kind of things I am getting to do. “What has then gone out of alignment?” I ask myself.
I am trying to fit too much in. I need to make choices about how and where I spend my time and energy. I had possibly lost sight of self-improvement and aligning with my values. In my effort to fit more into my week, the parts that I chose to sacrifice were related to my health and wellness. My tennis playing, my time for reflection and learning, my walks in nature, and my time for preparing ahead of a workshop all were getting crunched or reduced. As a result, I am getting more done, but the wobble is starting to show. A quick trip to the service station is something I have to invest in. I am not sure what I will find but I am sure it will help me get back in alignment.
Not only will it make me feel better, but my passengers will also enjoy the drive more. Living life more intentionally and in alignment with my core values and my life purpose, using my natural skills and talents is the best way to travel. I had momentarily lost sight of this in my effort to go faster and cover more distance in a shorter time. Thank you to those who picked up the first signs of my wobble and helped me get back in alignment and thank you Gaurav for the reminder to focus on what is important. I look forward to staying on the road toward genuine fulfilment.
Connecting my personal musings to a larger theme of Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance (ESG), maybe the reason ESG is getting so much attention is because the world is starting to experience a bit of a wobble. There is a lack of alignment between profit and planet and the remedy is to find congruence between the business of doing well and doing good and doing the right things. According to Wikipedia “The term ESG was popularly used first in a 2004 report titled “Who Cares Wins”, which was a joint initiative of financial institutions at the invitation of UN. In less than 20 years, the ESG movement has grown from a corporate social responsibility initiative launched by the United Nations into a global phenomenon representing more than US$30 trillion in assets under management.” Since the time the term ESG came into existence, it has received much attention, with “yay-sayers” and “nay-sayers” taking sides. The good news is that ESG is getting the attention it deserves and where attention goes, energy (and money) flows. I am hopeful that we will all find a way to live in alignment, and make the world a better place, individually and collectively.
The views and opinions published here belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the publisher.
A trusted coaching and communications professional, Nikhil Dey is a certified life and leadership coach (International Coach Federation - ICF). Nurturing talent and helping clients achieve their goals is what makes him happy. He loves learning from students of communication, teaching courses and guest lecturing at various educational institutions. When he is not working you will find him on the tennis court or out for long walks with his family and four legged friends.
Previously he has held senior leadership positions at Weber Shandwick and Genesis BCW.
He can be reached on twitter @deydreaming
Be the first to comment on "In Search Of Alignment"