Episode 16 - Rediscovering Your Why: Living by Your Values with Foster Wilson
By Jessica Garrison
Podmatch has yet again brought us an incredible guest that we get to share with everyone this week. The multitalented Foster Wilson describes herself as compassionate, creative, nerdy, and weird.
I wanted to share Foster’s conversation on coming back to her why and her values. She says that she sees values as a filtration system. There’s 4 areas that she asks about while deciphering if something aligns with her values: connection, growth, self-expression, and freedom. Foster considers herself an extrovert, so connection is really important to her. If she’s able to make a meaningful connection, whether it be with a person or within a project, then she knows it’s beneficial to her values. She also wants to expand in all aspects of life, which is where growth comes in. She’ll ask herself, “Will this help me grow?” Although it can be intimidating to try new things, if it will help you grow, then it’s worth taking the risk on, so I think this is a great question to ask in these situations, especially if that is something of value to you.
Self-expression is also important to Foster as a creative person. Growing up, she wanted to be an actress but eventually ended up behind the camera as a director, giving her more creative control. If something is going to allow her to express herself, especially in a creative way, then she knows it aligns with herself and her values. Lastly is freedom, something we all want. There’s many layers to the word freedom itself, but in Foster’s case, she is referring to the freedom to try new things and the freedom of time. She doesn’t want to be anchored down by the same old things, so she keeps an open mind for opportunities that make it through her filtration system of values. I think this is a great way of thinking about it because it is helpful to have some type of question in your mind as to what you’ll allow into your life and what you won’t. No matter what process you use in your mind to make decisions, knowing that they align with your why can make you feel more confident, knowing it is best for you.
When it comes to following your heart, you have to be okay with living out of your own expectations rather than someone else’s. Foster says you should disappoint everyone else before ever disappointing yourself, and I agree completely. Of course we want people to be proud of us, but we need to be the most proud of ourselves. It’s been a theme lately on our podcast that it’s your life and no one else’s to live. You always have a choice, and it’s you making the decisions and living with the consequences of them, so be sure it aligns with yourself.
Foster has one of those voices that is perfect for podcasting, it’s soft and relaxing but the content of what she is saying is so important that you can’t help but hold on to every word. I look forward to seeing what she accomplishes in the future with her creativity and sense of self.
Ways to Engage: Create your own criteria/filtration system for your why and your values (think of connection, growth, self-expression, and freedom as examples). You can also write it down to see how it changes over time. Use this whenever you have an important decision to make or are questioning if something aligns with your why.