Your True North – Making a Regular Time for Recalibration
"Before you tell your life what you intend to do with it, listen for what it intends to do with you." – Parker Palmer
Did you know that airplanes spend surprisingly little time flying directly over their planned route? Winds, weather, and tiny navigational errors constantly nudge them off course. Rather than trying to fly perfectly, modern navigation systems continually make small corrections. The destination isn't reached by avoiding drift; it's reached by noticing drift early and recalibrating.
Perhaps our lives work much the same way. Most of us don't wake up one morning having suddenly become exhausted, disconnected, or misaligned with our values. More often, we drift there gradually. Deadlines accumulate. Relationships receive less attention. Good habits quietly erode. Before long, we realize we're living reactively rather than intentionally. The problem wasn't a dramatic wrong turn, rather too many small ones left uncorrected.
Behavioral science research has found that periodic self-reflection helps people stay aligned with their deepest values, priorities, and long-term aspirations. Studies of self-regulation suggest that routinely comparing our current direction with our deeper goals improves follow-through, resilience, and well-being. Even brief moments of reflection increase the likelihood that our daily actions remain aligned with the person we're hoping to become. Like a pilot regularly checking the flight instruments and confirming the aircraft is still on course, the purpose isn't self-criticism. It's course correction.
Over the years, I've found that the changing seasons provide natural invitations for these recalibrations. Around each solstice and equinox, I intentionally alter my usual routines for a few days. It always includes some form of fasting, not because fasting is the goal, but because it creates space. Space to journal. To sit quietly. To walk in the woods or paddle on the water. To write. To ask questions I rarely make time for otherwise: What's life trying to teach me right now? What needs more attention? What needs less? Where have I drifted? What should I carry into the next season, and what should I leave behind?
Your rhythm may look entirely different. Perhaps it's a monthly morning alone with a notebook, a quarterly hike, an annual retreat, a Sabbath afternoon, or simply an uninterrupted conversation with your PeerRx partner or another colleague. The practice matters less than the rhythm. Regular recalibration helps prevent small drifts from becoming large departures.
As we move into the heart of summer, consider scheduling your next reset before you think you need it. Put it on your calendar. Protect it. Bring curiosity rather than judgment. The goal isn't to reinvent yourself every few months. It's simply to return, again and again, to what is presently your true north. These small, intentional course corrections today may keep you from wondering years from now how you drifted so far from the life you hoped to live. That sure seems like a wise use of your time.