The importance of understanding your personal journey
August 4, 2021
Copyright HJ Mohnen
For the last year or so, Jay Mohnen and I have been working with 15 lovely and willing test candidates on a program which helps individuals develop their Internal Compass. We feel as if we have travelled a part of their magnificent journeys with them, which has been enormously insightful and joyful!
Internal Compass and stories
The Internal Compass is a personal leadership process which we created, that draws inspiration from a unique combination of Value Work, Enneagrams and the Hero's Journey. We help our candidates understand what is important to them and how this fits into their own personal story.
Humans are hard wired for stories, which is exactly why framing your own personal narrative is so important. Stories help us make sense of the world and of ourselves. However, almost all of us have accepted a version of a story (or a web of stories) that needs some editing, as it's often based on old beliefs and patterns which are not our own, rather those of our family, our social environment or our society. Through individual collaboration with each candidate in the Internal Compass, we helped curate their stories to find out which ones may no longer be serving them, to explore alternative perspectives, and to establish a more honest and compassionate personal narrative.
"The key was learning that I can re-frame and re-create my story so that I am not a victim of it, but that it empowers me to move forward with confidence"
Jordan, United States
In our trial runs, we confirmed that a greater insight into the singularity of our own stories, the patterns inherent to our personality types, and the importance of our unique values genuinely helps us to navigate our life path with less resistance. The process clarifies where we are and where we are going. Ultimately, it expands our sense of who we are and who we can become.
"You are guided through a journey to a new region of yourself, it's like a guided walking tour in a city you once lived in and now returned to"
Balasz, the Netherlands
Original and fresh insights
The entire trial phase has been quite a journey for Jay and me as well. We spent a considerable amount of time in between the sessions to align our intuition, thoughts and to see what surfaced (what was triggered within us) so we could derive authentic viewpoints and develop an effective approach for the remaining sessions. We embraced unexpected glimpses into the human experience that not only helped us to continuously refine our technique, but that also inspired us to rethink our own narratives. In turn, this enhanced the sense of connection we felt to our candidates, who generously took us along for a part of their journeys, and served to further deepen the adventure as a process of co-creation.
One key take away I would personally like to share is the realisation that whenever we worked from a place of love, we had the greatest impact on our participants. This sentiment generated an atmosphere of openness, empowerment and self-acceptance, which we feel inspired our participants to go deeper and to have more compassion for themselves.
"Mirjam and Jay were like the Wise Ones, guides, who accompany you on a great adventure inside your own mind. They are there all along the way to test you, gently and compassionately challenge your assumptions and nudge you towards arriving in a place of clarity, your inner compass" ... "This process has been truly empowering, they make you believe that there is no limit to your potential, to your dreams and visions. It has been a truly awesome process to go through with them, it's sort of an adventure you wish would never end"
Diana, Hungary
What's next
Over the coming weeks, we will enjoy our holidays and then start wrapping up the trial process. Soon we will share more about our next steps. We both cannot wait to move forward with this!
If you want to know more or are interested in our work, simply drop me or Jay a message!