Psychological Flexibility

Decisions. Oh have the days been FULL OF THEM in the past few weeks! And just like the coronavirus...these decisions have certainly been novel. (I know I have never given as much thought to whether or not to go into a grocery store!)

Something I have heard so many times in the past few weeks (both inside and outside of my own head!) is, "I don't know if I should..." Decisions that we made quite easily in the past currently leave us at a crossroads looking frantically right, left, forward, backward...often a bit paralyzed...or other times impulsive. While we make decisions everyday regardless of a pandemic, we usually have some experiential frameworks to help guide the decisions. I love how Brené Brown frames this - "I don't know about you, but this is my first Global pandemic." Yep - we're all right there with ya Brené!

And...one of the particularly challenging, but very real, parts of all of this is that there is not necessary a "right" or "wrong" decision.

So - how can MINDFULNESS help with this issue? I am so glad you asked!

Bringing a mindful attention to what matters most in our lives is the foundation of identifying our VALUES. The term values in this realm is akin to a compass, as values help to give us direction. One of the greatest things about looking to values to help guide decisions is that many choices associated with one decision could align with the same core and guiding value. In other words, we might be able to go right or left or forward or (even) backward and still be in alignment with our value. When we align our decisions with our most important values...we can continue to focus on something much larger than a particular outcome. Here's a short video to help clarify the concept of values - https://youtu.be/T-lRbuy4XtA .

And what better time to work on focusing on a more over-arching, guiding principle (i.e., value) than a particular outcome? Because in these times... just wait 10 mins. - the information will likely change!

Here are some online resources to help you identify your core values. (These are just a very limited few of the many available!):

https://www.actmindfully.com.au/.../VALUED_Living...

https://www.lifebalanceinstitute.com/.../Core%20Values...

Considering all of this - what are your core values right now? We'd love for you to share in the comments! (And no need to be shy...they are YOUR core values, so they can't be wrong!)

Wishing you all a Mindful Monday that is value-guided!