Without alignment, the best strategic plan will never be fully realised because organisational alignment is the glue that makes strategy execution excellence happen. An aligned organisation gets things done faster, with less effort, better results, and is more agile and responsive to changing business conditions. As an individual, your life and work are made up of outcomes and actions. When you are personally out of alignment, you are essentially wasting time, energy, and the resources you have invested in trying to achieve your goals.
Alignment is when your thoughts, feelings, words and actions are all aligned for one common goal. Being in alignment is the ultimate in self-actualisation. It means you’ve mastered the art of getting out of your own way. It’s a powerful and extraordinary place to be. As an added bonus, when you’re in complete alignment, you also become a master manifestor (or a super attractor!). You enter a flow state where everything you want seems to happen naturally for you. (Mostly because you’re not screwing it up for yourself!)
“Alignment begins with a constituency of one. These are the individuals whose substance is real, pure and nonnegotiable. They share their vulnerabilities and fears in complement to their strengths. They are comfortable weaving all parts of their lives together in an integrated way. Our level of effectiveness, contribution and integrity of work and life are in direct correlation with our level of integration, self-actualisation and total alignment of body, mind and spirit.”
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What Is Alignment?
So, if alignment is our ultimate goal, it also brings up another important question: How do I know if I’m in alignment? That’s a particularly tricky question to answer. After all, there’s no alignment reader who can give us exact results. The only way to really figure out if we’re in alignment is to pay close attention to what we’re thinking, feeling, saying and doing – and to be genuinely honest about it. If you’re not legitimately being honest with yourself, what’s the point of putting in all this effort? Of course, it can be intimidating to admit where we’ve gone off-track. It can be sobering to figure out what has gone wrong. However, if you really want to create the life of your dreams, you have to put in the work. When your body, heart, and mind, are not in alignment, it becomes easier for doubt to creep in.
Most specifically, doubt about your abilities, competency, self-worth, and place. When this happens, the doubt also leads to indecision, putting you into a vicious cycle of being unable to act because of doubt, while the doubt feeding into your fears and insecurities is stopping you from acting. We’d all love to find a way to magically come into alignment, kick confusion and doubt to the curb and easily attain all of our dreams and desires. Not only that, we want to get into alignment fast! And we want to stay there forever! Here’s the thing: simply put, you can’t.
You Can’t
You can’t force yourself into alignment.
You can’t demand to get there fast if you’re not willing to make the changes required to truly get into alignment.
You can’t use the concept of alignment to control and manipulate life into giving you stuff you want (when you’re fundamentally not aligned to what you desire.)
You can’t force achievements and outcomes from a place of depletion or desperation (not with any sustainability).
You can’t expect to get into alignment and stay there indefinitely with no effort on your behalf to course correct when required.
You can’t ignore your body and your wellbeing to achieve and create over any length of time, even if you’re passionate about what you do, without also creating health consequences such as adrenal fatigue.
You can’t cheat your way through life. You must do the work.
You Can
You can learn to listen to yourself.
You can learn to notice the signs that you’re heading out of alignment and course correct quickly.
You can learn to discern when slowing down or letting go is what is actually required.
You can learn to trust your own intuition for guidance.
You can learn what helps you stay in alignment and flow.
You can learn to respond to the feedback life is giving you. Not getting the responses, reactions and outcomes from people and situations that you’d like? Something’s not in alignment. Pay attention.
You can forgive yourself for not being perfect.
“Focus…Focus on the light in the darkness. Focus on the joy in the pain. Focus on the strength in the weakness. Life’s totality is duality. All bad ain’t bad and some good will come with pain. The suffering comes from what we choose to focus on. Feel. Process. Release. And then… Focus.”
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15 Signs You're in Alignment
Once we are in alignment our vibration rises. We become a magnet for abundance, love, and happiness. Synchronicity abounds and life presents us with endless opportunities to reach our full potential. Getting into alignment requires work and discipline. Unless we live alone on the top of a mountain, we are bombarded by stressors everyday. It is our job to protect our energy and alignment from our environment. So, how do you know if you are in alignment?
You listen to your body.
You know what you value and live in alignment with those values.
You take breaks when you need them.
You accept and embrace your appearance, intelligence, personality, and talents.
You say yes AND no with ease.
You know your likes and dislikes and establish boundaries accordingly.
You feel and express your creativity.
You take personal responsibility for your choices and actions.
You prioritise your health and wellbeing ABOVE business growth or achievement (yes you can grow and achieve, but if it’s at the expense of your health and wellbeing the price may be higher than you expect.)
You can define what integrity means to you and live up to that.
You know your own truth regardless of what others think.
You let down any masks, walls, or self-judgment you may have been hiding behind.
You respond to the flow of life. When things are moving, you ride the wave. When things slow down, you trust the cycle and allow yourself to slow down too. You know that life has seasons and you attune to them.
You make time to have fun and enjoy your life.
You are in the moment.
Life has a tendency to provide us with exactly what we need in order to grow. Our beliefs, mindset, and what we value in life provide the roadmap for the type of life that we experience. A period of personal unhappiness reveals that our values are misplaced and we are on the wrong path. Unless we choose to change our values and ideas, we will continue to experience discontentment.
“When you heal the root of lack in your life, it allows for transformation to occur so that you can move from a place of holding on to people, situations, and relationships that are out of alignment with your highest vision of your life, to a place of letting go and growth.”
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Let Go of the P.A.S.T
Oftentimes you don’t know that you are swinging out of alignment until you are already out of balance. Then you most likely already feel like a hot mess, with no direction, no support, no plan and no energy. How do you put yourself back into alignment so your head (thoughts), connects with your heart (feelings) and gut (intuition)? Firstly, know that you don’t have to go it alone. Wrangle up your support team to get some love, unload your burdens, and then…create a plan to reset and regain traction in your life and business.
- Permit yourself to feel what you are feeling. Those feelings are real. Emotion is energy-in-motion. Don’t block them. Let them come out in a safe way.
- Accept that you are human. You will have feelings – some great, some unhappy. Accept that you are you for a reason. You don’t have to be perfect or have answers for everything. You are allowed to be you, unapologetically.
- Self-evaluation. Understand what is driving those thoughts and feelings. Why do you feel the way you do? What are the true feelings, and what are the facts? Perception lies somewhere in between. For many people, perception is reality. This is based on a false sense of reality. The farther you are away from your true authentic self, the more your perception becomes real.
- Trust yourself to know your own truth. You know what feels right. You know what makes sense to you. You know what feels in alignment. Your gut – your intuition, inner knowing and inner voice – can serve as your guide for you to trust yourself. You know what is best for you. Often times, when we feel overwhelmed, frustrated, disappointed and insecure, it’s because our head (thoughts) do not match or align with our heart (feeling) or our gut (intuition).
“We live in a world where everything is connected. We can no longer think in terms of us and them when it comes to the consequences of the way we live. Today it’s all about WE.”
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5 Steps to Bring Yourself Back into Alignment
People who have had little self-reflection live life in a huge reality blind-spot. Someone who takes the time to deliberately seek and find alignment with who-they-truly-are, is more effective and powerful than the millions who have not achieved this alignment. Let your alignment with wellbeing be first and foremost and let everything else be secondary. Not only will you have an eternally joyous journey, but everything you have ever imagined will flow effortlessly into your experience. There is nothing you cannot be or do or have as long as your dominant intent is to be joyful. The doing and the having will come into alignment once you get that one down pat. There are 5 components to alignment: desires, thoughts, feelings, words and actions.
Step #1: Your Desires
Your desires are important to your individual journey. They’re a large part of what propels you through life! They’re also part of what makes you uniquely you. We are simply not all meant to want the same things and, fortunately, there’s so much more than the suburban house and white picket fence to choose from in life.
Sometimes we can become confused and start to believe that our desires come from somewhere other than us. Maybe we learned them from the household we grew up in or perhaps we adopted them from the media. Other times, our goals used to suit us but (unbeknownst to us) we have since outgrown them. Typically, we tend to require a level of discontent in order to feel the urge to want to grow, so if you have felt this way in the past few months, congratulations!
Do not get attached to the world as it is, because the world is changing and something new is coming. Stop trying to be less of who you are. Let this time in your life cut you open and drain all of the things that are holding you back. You are not the same person that you were this time last year, six months ago or even three months ago. Because you are always evolving, changing, growing and transforming, it’s crucial to go within and question your intentions. Make sure your desires are worthy of YOU, and that they haven’t come from somewhere else. Most importantly, do they still light you up?
If you have any doubt, it’s time to set aside a little time to do some work. Ask yourself what would your life look like if you could have ANYTHING you want? Start from there and see what wonderful options you can come up with.
“To burn with desire and keep quiet about it is the greatest punishment we can bring on ourselves.”
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Step #2: Your Thoughts
This is the easiest problem to troubleshoot! There’s not usually a disconnect between our thoughts and feelings. That’s because our feelings arise from our thoughts. We’re usually very aware of when our thoughts have gone off track because we’re also not feeling good! So, thoughts and feelings are typically two sides of the same coin. Every thought you think is creating your future. The happiness of your life depends on the quality of your thoughts. Change your thoughts, change your life.
“We are addicted to our thoughts. We cannot change anything if we cannot change our thinking.”
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Step #3: Your Feelings
Your feelings are one of the best indications that you are out of alignment. You know that nagging feeling in the back of your mind that something is off? That feeling is telling you that it’s time to listen in and see what else it has to say.
Many people go through life as slaves to their own emotions. They don’t realise that emotions are the result of our thoughts. If you want to feel better, then you need to work on creating a different thought. Our feelings are simply our internal barometer. If you feel out-of-sorts or bored or uninspired, it’s time to figure out where that’s really coming from.
Our feelings are here to show us something important. We are all masters of self-deception. We fool ourselves into thinking “everything’s fine!” when we don’t want to face an uncomfortable truth. But here’s the thing: that little nagging feeling isn’t going away unless YOU take action and change what needs to change. The faster you can course-correct, the faster you’re going to get to your ultimate goal.
“Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky. Conscious breathing is my anchor.”
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Step #4: Your Words
Did you know that the Hebrew word ‘Abracadabra’ literally means “I create as I speak?” When you truly listen to a person, you can quickly identify so much of their internal state simply from the words they use to describe themselves and the world around them.
However, it can be a little more difficult to notice our own vocabulary. With a little extra effort and attention, you’ll soon begin to notice some of your key patterns and phrases. Do you keep talking about things that you don’t ever do? Do you try to present yourself in a way that doesn’t really align with who you are? If so, then you are creating a layer of internal conflict.
You might not think your words matter but they have a huge impact on your world! You might be able to fool a friend or two with your grandiose talk but deep down inside you always know your own truth. The more time you spend talking about things and not doing them, the less confidence you’ll have in yourself. That lack of self-confidence literally extends out to everything else in your life in addition to the one problem area that you’re trying to cover up. So, it’s time to cut the crap and be authentic. Be true to your word. Express your truth in the best way you can. You are a powerful person and you deserve to believe in the words you speak! You deserve to believe in you.
“Those who don’t value their words, will never value your wishes.”
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Step #5: Your Actions
Action is the universal language of success. You can desire something, think positively, feel great and talk about it until you’re blue in the face, but if you don’t ever actually do anything to bring yourself closer to that goal, you fail. Never confuse movement with action, especially when the only movement is your lips. You are what you do, not what you say you’re going to do.
Your action reveals your priorities. Waiting until you’re ready is one of the most dangerous games you can play when it comes to getting what you want out of your life and business. What most people mean when they say, “I’m not ready,” is “I want to be confident in my ability to have a successful experience.”
You can dance in the storm. Don’t wait for the rain to be over before you take action because it might take too long. You can do it now. Wherever you are right now, you can start right now; this very moment. Let today be the day you stop being haunted by the ghost of yesterday. Holding a grudge and harbouring anger or resentment is poison to the soul. Get even with people…but not those who have hurt you, forget them, instead get even with those who have helped you.
“The most confused you will ever get is when you try to convince your heart and spirit of something your mind knows is a lie.”
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Final Words
Those with a grateful mindset tend to see the message in the mess. Even though life may knock them down, the grateful ones find reasons, even if they’re only teeny-tiny ones, to get up. You are not a victim. No matter what you have been through, you’re still here. You may have been challenged, hurt, betrayed, beaten, and discouraged, but nothing has defeated you. You are still here! You have been delayed but not denied. You are not a victim, you are a victor. You have a history of victory.
It’s time to care; it’s time to take responsibility; it’s time to lead; it’s time for a change; it’s time to be true to your greatest self; it’s time to stop blaming others. Today is a new day. Let today be the day you stop being a victim of your circumstances and start taking action towards the life you want to live. You have the power and the time to shape your life into more than you ever could have imagined. Break free from the poisonous victim mentality and embrace the truth of your greatness. You were not meant for the mundane or mediocre.
Winning and losing is not an external game. It is an internal battle over telling yourself the truth vs. lies regarding why you haven’t stepped into the life you dreamed of. Your fear is 100% dependent on you for its survival. Incredible change happens in your life when you decide to take control of what you do have power over instead of craving control over what you don’t. Free yourself from the complexities and drama of your life. Simplify. Look within. Bring yourself back into alignment. Within you lie all the gifts and talents that you need to fulfill your highest purpose. At the end of the day, let there be no excuses, no explanations, no regrets.
“Every conscious thought you have, every moment you spend on an idea, is a commitment to be stuck with that idea and with aspects of that level of thinking, for the rest of your life. Spending just 10 seconds focusing on a topic that does not serve your interests is to invest your energy along a path that will continue to draw from you and define you.”
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