Become Greater Ep. 66 - Your Personal North Star

Feeling overwhelmed by endless choices and conflicting pressures? This episode explores how to find clarity and direction by identifying your "Personal North Star"—your core values. Discover what core values truly are (hint: they're not just goals or external 'shoulds') and why living out of alignment with them can lead to stress and dissatisfaction. We explore how the discipline, integrity, and self-knowledge forged through dedicated physical training provide a powerful model for understanding and living by these essential principles. Learn how to identify your own core values and use them as a practical decision-making filter to reduce overwhelm, eliminate conflict, and consciously design a more authentic and purposeful life.Key Insights & Takeaways in This Episode:

• Defining Your Core Values: Understanding these fundamental, internal principles (like Integrity, Growth, Connection, Freedom) that act as your inner compass.
• The Pitfalls of Misalignment: Recognizing how making choices that conflict with your core values leads to stress, regret, and a feeling of inauthenticity.
• Training as a Value Laboratory: How dedicated physical training—through its demand for purpose, integrity, and self-knowledge—teaches you how to live and act in alignment with what you value.
• Finding Your North Star: Practical, reflective questions to help you uncover the 3-5 core values that are most essential to you.
• Values as Your Decision Filter: Learn how to use your core values to cut through noise, simplify complex choices, and reduce decision fatigue.
• Building a Purposeful Life: How consistently choosing actions that align with your deepest principles naturally leads to a life filled with greater meaning and authenticity.
• The Power of Self-Knowledge: Recognizing that the journey of understanding your physical capabilities helps build the self-awareness needed to understand and live by your core values.

This Week's Challenge:

1. Take some quiet time this week to reflect on the prompts discussed in the episode. Try to identify just one or two principles that feel like they are your core values.
2. Look at one decision you need to make soon, whether big or small.
3. Consciously ask yourself: "How does each option align with the core value(s) I identified?"
4. Notice if this question brings any new clarity or simplifies your decision-making process.

Join the conversation! @joe_cebula

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:13):
Hello and welcome back. We live in a world overflowing
with choices, opinions, and pressures. It's easy to feel overwhelmed,
pulled in a dozen different directions at once, struggling to
make decisions big or small, we often find ourselves asking
am I making the right choice? Today, we're going to
talk about a powerful tool to cut through that noise,

(00:34):
a way to navigate life with greater clarity, confidence, and purpose.
We're talking about identifying and using your core values as
your personal north star. And as always, we'll explore how
the discipline and self knowledge forge through our physical training
can illuminate and support this crucial process. So what exactly

(00:54):
are core values. They're not just fleeting desires or specific
goals like wanting a new car or a promotion. Core
values run much and deeper. They are the fundamental principles,
the deep seated beliefs that define who you are at
your essence and who you aspire to be. Think of
them as unwavering qualities that guide your behavior when you're

(01:16):
at your best, things like integrity, growth, connection, freedom, strength, resilience, creativity, service,
or courage. They are the internal. They come from within you,
unlike the external shoulds and aughts we've talked about before.
Your core values are your inner compass, your personal constitution.

(01:37):
When we live our lives without a clear understanding of
or alignment with, our core values, life often feels difficult.
We can feel deeply conflicted, constantly stressed, or overwhelmed by
the sheer number of choices. We might make decisions that
look good on paper, that seem to please others, or
follow a societal script, but leave us feeling empty, dissatisfy,

(02:00):
or full of regret. It can feel like we're drifting
or living someone else's life. This happens because we're often
chasing external goals, money, status, approval, or following those shoulds,
and these pursuits might be in direct conflict with what
truly matters to us deep down. This is where the
lessons learn from our training become surprisingly relevant. Think about

(02:23):
training with purpose. Truly effective physical training, especially the kind
we focus on expanding our genuine capabilities, isn't just random activity.
It requires intention. It demands that you define what capabilities
you value. Do you value raw strength? Do you value endurance?
Do you value technical skill and coordination? Do you value resilience?

(02:47):
Your answer to that question your value dictates how you train.
This is value based decision making in its most physical form. Furthermore,
training demands integrity. Showing up consistently, doing the reps with
good form even when no one is watching, Being honest
with yourself about your current limits while still striving to

(03:10):
expand them. This requires integrity, a core value in itself.
You learn to act in alignment with the value of
improvement or discipline, even and especially when it's hard, And
perhaps most importantly, the dedicated process of physical training forces
deep self knowledge. You learn your body's signals, You learn

(03:31):
your mental patterns under stress, You learn what truly drives
you to push through discomfort. This profound self awareness, this
understanding of what you truly value in your physical expression
and what you're willing to sacrifice and work for, is
the absolute foundation for identifying all your core values in life.

(03:52):
So how do you start identifying your personal north star?
Those few core values that are non negotiable for you.
Process of reflection not a multiple choice test, and you
don't need a long list. Usually three to five truly
core values emerge as the most powerful guides. Try asking
yourself some questions. Think about moments in your life when

(04:14):
you feel truly proud, deeply fulfilled, or completely in your element.
What values were you honoring in those moments? Perhaps it
was integrity when you stood up for something, or connection
when you helped someone, or growth when you mastered a
new skill. Conversely, consider times when you felt angry, frustrated, resentful,

(04:36):
or deeply conflicted. What core value was likely being ignored, violated,
or compromised in that situation. Often strong and negative emotions
signal a clash with our deepest principles. Think about the
qualities you deeply admire in others. These often act as
mirrors reflecting back the values that you hold dear, but

(04:59):
might be fully expressing yourself. Ask yourself, if I had
to describe the code I truly want to live by,
what would its most fundamental principles be. Sit with these questions,
let the answers emerge over time. Once you have a
clearer sense of your core values. The magic happens when

(05:21):
you start using them as a decision making filter. When
faced with a choice, whether it's a major life pass
decision or a smaller daily one, consciously pause and ask
which option aligns most closely with my core values, like integrity, growth,
or freedom. You'll find this approach dramatically reduces overwhelmed It

(05:41):
cuts through the endless pros and cons, the noise of
other people's opinions, and the pressure of shoulds. It simplifies
things by bringing the focus back to what truly matters
to you. It also helps eliminate internal conflict. When choices
seem equally difficult, viewing them through the lens of your
core values often illuminate. It's a path that feels more right,

(06:02):
more authentic, even if it isn't the easiest one, and
over time, consistently making value aligned choices naturally leads you
towards a life that feels more purposeful. You aren't just
reacting or drifting. You're actively building a life that reflects
who you are at your core. You are living authentically

(06:22):
powered by your internal compass. This discipline, this self awareness,
and the integrity you practice every time you step up
to train are the very skills that support your ability
to identify and more importantly, live by your core values.
It's a journey of aligning your actions with your deepest principles,
starting with the very way you inhabit and train your

(06:44):
own body. So here's your challenge for this week, take
some quiet time or reflection, no pressure, just curiosity. Try
to identify just one or two principles that feel like
they might be part of your personal north star. Look
at one decision you need to make in the coming days,
could be anything big or small. Consciously ask yourself, how

(07:07):
does this decision stack up against this core value. Just
notice of that question provides any clarity, any sense of direction.
Start navigating by your own north star. Thanks for tuning in.
Live with purpose, guided by your values.