spring pink flowers 214528What does it mean to live an authentic life? For me it involves being true to myself, speaking my truth, being genuine, living in alignment with my core values of honesty, integrity, spirituality, courage, compassion, faith, service, joy, creativity, and sincerity. Values speak to who I am and what I stand for. When I honor my core values, I am living authentically, I am standing in my power, speaking my truth and taking a stand for what I believe in. There is a saying by Shakespeare “To thine own self be true” that speaks to living an authentic life.

As a Life Coach I help my clients to clarify their values so they have a better sense of who they are. When a client articulates their goals one of the tools I use is asking them to elaborate what the value means to them. The exercise involves using slash marks to separate the different interpretations of each value. Here’s an example. One way to define integrity is: Integrity/truth/honesty/walk your talk. Another way to define integrity is: Integrity/congruent/integrated/ genuine. By articulating the values in this way, the client deepens the meaning by attaching their own individual definitions.

Here is a 7-line poem about authenticity.

1-Being authentic is being real

2-Real and genuine

3-Genuine and honest

4-Honest in all my interactions

5-Interactions with others

6-Others deserve honesty

7-Honesty is speaking my truth

What about you? How do you show up authentically in your life? What are your core values? How do you honor them? How can you speak your truth today?

I invite you to join me at my May retreat, The Masks We Wear, The Journey to Our Authentic Self, May 11-13 at ARC Retreat Center. Details are on my website.  http://nancyjambor.com/events/

Living Authentically
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6 thoughts on “Living Authentically

  • April 19, 2015 at 9:22 am
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    Thanks for your comments Harmony! The slash exercise is a good one for clarification and really personalizing our core values. My core values are key to living an authentic life.

  • April 19, 2015 at 9:19 am
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    Debbie, I so agree with you about listening to our intuition and asking for guidance from HP when the going gets rough. Thanks for your comments!

  • April 19, 2015 at 8:57 am
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    I have become a much more spiritual person as I have grown older. I have never really ‘laid out’ in black and white what my core values are…maybe that is something I should explore. For me…..to live an authentic life…it means listening to that little voice with in and asking for guidance from my higher power when the path gets a bit fuzzy.

  • April 17, 2015 at 7:02 pm
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    That slash exercise is interesting. It’s probably time for me to review my core values again. It’s been a few months since I last revised my list. Thanks for the inspiration to look it over once more, and to see it from so many points of view.

  • April 17, 2015 at 5:20 pm
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    Thanks for your thoughtful comments Michele! I love your affirmation “I am a woman of integrity.” What would a woman of integrity do in this situation? I am going to use this with my core values. It’s a great perspective Michele:)

  • April 17, 2015 at 5:09 pm
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    My core values are wisdom, integrity, connection, expression and presence. I live my life through these values and have defined each of them so I am clear about what they mean to me. I frequently use the following…I am a woman of integrity – what would a woman of integrity do here?…when I’m trying to make a decision or feeling challenged with something that’s come up in my life. It’s really helpful to move through life from this perspective and has made a huge difference for me.

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