As an avid outdoorsy kind of gal, I am always intrigued by the navigational instruments I use when hiking, canoeing and traveling.  I remember one time, about 7 years ago, Greg and I were navigating in a creek (in the dark), which opened up into a bog, attempting to find that “sweet duck-hunting” spot he’d used several times.  We powered our canoe using paddles, our flashlight was packed away, we couldn’t see a map if we wanted to, we had no GPS (yes, people did things differently in the olden days) and we were on our own using some very creative resources and ultimately, we found our truth north. Can you guess what we did?  If so, hold that thought.  I’ll finish the story in a moment but in this blog post, I want to share what finding your true north means, “at least” 3 ways to find it and finally what to watch for on that journey.

What does finding your true north mean?  In Bill George’s book, True North, he says, “it’s the internal compass that guides you successfully through life.  It is your orienting point – your fixed point in a spinning world – that helps you stay on track…It’s based on what is most important to you, your most cherished values, your passions and motivations and the sources of satisfaction in your life.”

So finding it, (knowing it and understanding it) means you’ve got something internally that you can trust to keep you grounded.  Now that we know what it is, let’s chat about some ways we can find it.

1. Knowing or exploring your life purpose or values:  While that might sound fluffy to some people, here is where knowing your purpose and values will pay off: If you know what you stand for and what values are most important to you and make decisions based on them, you will be a great leader, great boss, great advisor, parent etc.  According to Brenda Barnes, CEO of the Sara Lee Company, “The most important thing about <your> leadership is your character and the values that guide your life.”  Companies long for people who know their values and stand in them.
2. Knowing and trusting your instincts:  Oh boy, this is a tough one.  In a world of failed promises and deals – it’s tough to know who to trust.  It’s a muscle that needs to be strengthened over and over again.  How do you know you can trust yourself?  I have a cool assessment I give people to help them identify their trustability level and how to strengthen it. In a world of constantly being forced to put our trust in others – the assessment is an eye-opener.  Take a peak at the free class I have coming up where you can take the assessment
3. Using the resources you already have – both internal and external.  That’s what Greg and I did when we navigated that channel in the dark.  There were overhung trees, a muddy and shallow bottom and even a “pick it up and take it over” (portage)….all done in the dark.  I felt like we were on the show Man Woman Wild.  We used our senses (I heard you giggling but what I mean is sight, sound, touch etc.), we used our paddles to press down on the bottom of the creek and trail to avoid any sink holes and we could sense the feel of a wide open space which told us we made it to the bigger part of the bog.  All at once, a new navigational tool showed up.  It was the north star.

Once on the bigger bog, the north star was very clear and honestly, it was the first time I’d ever seen multi-colored northern lights.  It was beautiful.  Because we had spotted the north star and because we knew if we headed north we’d bump in to our “sweet hunting spot”, we moved forward.  Always keeping that star in front of us.  Instead of worrying or focusing on what might go wrong, we focused on “what else”.  What else could help us get to where we want to be?  What things are we encountering and recognizing and how can we use them to help guide us. We followed the urge to trust ourselves and all the navigational tools we had.  Ultimately, we always kept our eyes open on the journey, always looking for new tools to use.

Ultimately, Greg and I trusted ourselves enough to get to our destination because we held on to and were focused on our truth north.  What do you do to stay connected to your true north?