I’ve been talking a lot lately about freedom. Not as a concept I find interesting, but as a value I’m committed to living. And right now, that means I’m on my way to Paris for the ICF conference – a little professional development, a little pleasure, and a lot of intentional choice about how I spend my time.
A few weeks ago it was London. The rest of my summer is dotted with what I’ve started calling Freedom Adventures. Freedom Fridays on steroids, if you want the shorthand.
But here’s the thing. The point isn’t Paris.
The point is that I named freedom as something that matters to me, and then I built my life around it. Not as an aspiration I revisit every January. As a practice. Specific, visible, repeated.
That’s harder than it sounds. Most of us can articulate our values quickly. Integrity. Connection. Growth. The words come easily. What’s less common is the habit of stopping to ask: where did I actually honor that this week? Where did I quietly defer it?
Values without behavior are just preferences.
I’m not sharing my summer to inspire wanderlust. I’m reporting. Here’s what I said mattered. Here’s what I did. For coaches who spend real time helping others close that gap, it’s worth turning the same question on yourself.
So…what’s up for you?
Not as a journaling prompt for someday. Right now, in your calendar, your client work, your working hours. Where are your values showing up? Where are they getting pushed aside?
Freedom might not be your word. But you have a word. The question is whether you can point to it in your life the way I can point to Paris.
