values – Ruthann M. Wilson

Leading from Within: Why Personal Leadership Comes First

Inner clarity ripples outward.

What comes to mind when you hear the phrase leading from within? I invite you to pause, take a deep breath, and reflect on what that phrase stirs in you. Whether you’re guiding a family, a team, a community, or a congregation, authentic leadership begins within. It is shaped by inner clarity, rooted in vision, and attuned to what feels most true for you.

Guiding ourselves is a lifelong practice, shaped by reflection, realignment, and the courage to return to what feels true. This inner work is what shapes and builds integrity. Integrity is not a fixed state. It is a return to wholeness, a noticing of misalignment, and a gentle guiding back to congruence.

Personal leadership is the practice of living in alignment with your values, your rhythm, and your truth. Your values act as an inner compass, guiding what you embrace, what you release, and how you show up each day. Your rhythm is the pace and pattern that honors your energy, your seasons, and the flow of feeling. And your truth is what feels real and congruent. It is inner knowing that lives beyond performance and outside of the need for approval.

This kind of knowing becomes the foundation for making decisions that align with your values and support your growth. It nurtures relationships that feel safe and rhythms that sustain rather than drain your energy. When we lead ourselves with clarity, its impact begins to ripple outward. Outward leadership becomes more trustworthy, attuned, and sustainable so others may lead with clarity too.

This kind of leadership feels especially important right now. Many of us are rethinking how we live, work, and lead. Many of us are also feeling the pace and the pressure to perform, and finding reason to pause and reassess.

In a time when everything seems to be moving faster and trust feels fragile, inner clarity becomes a source of steadiness. It helps us shape lives that feel true and relationships that feel safe. It allows us to lead in ways that energize and inspire others.

Inner clarity shapes how we show up, how we speak, move, and reset. When we honor our personal rhythm, we show up with more presence and ease. When we speak from a place of alignment, our words carry weight and the potential to shape trust and what comes next. When we pause, reflect, and reset, we return to ourselves, able to lead from a place that feels steady, true, and sustaining. How we live becomes how we lead. And how we lead authentically begins with clarity within.

Reflections on Personal Leadership, shared in support of your leadership journey.

Personal vision begins within
Personal vision is inner clarity about what matters and what is yours to bring to life. Leadership guided by inner clarity offers steadiness, not because every step is mapped, but because the direction is true.

Values are your compass
Values are the principles and priorities that shape how you live, work, and lead. Values guide not only what you say yes to, but also what you release. When your values are clear, decisions become less about seeking approval and more about honoring what is true. Leadership begins when you choose alignment instead of approval.

Emotional clarity is foundational
Emotional clarity begins with noticing what feels true, what feels stirred, what feels off. This kind of clarity allows you to respond rather than react. It helps you lead with steadiness and create space for others to show up fully, because you have made space for yourself first.

Boundaries protect your energy and enable integrity
Boundaries clarify your role and create the conditions for sustainable leadership. Clear boundaries allow you to lead from a place of wholeness. When you honor your own rhythm, you lead in a way that feels true and steady.

Presence is powerful
People feel when you’re fully engaged: not distracted, not performing, simply present. Whether it’s in a meeting or a conversation, your attention communicates more than words. It shows that you’re listening. It shows that you care. Build trust by consistently offering others the gift of your full attention.

Leadership inventory offered as a way to reflect, realign, and return to what feels true.

What values are guiding me right now?
Are they clear, or do they need revisiting?
Where am I honoring my rhythm, and where am I overriding it?
What shifts might support more ease?
What feels congruent in how I’m showing up?
What feels off or performative?
Where might a boundary support my energy or integrity?
What would it look like to honor that boundary?
How does my presence feel to others?
Am I leading with attention, or distraction?

Move through the questions at your own pace. Let them deepen your inner clarity, and help guide how you lead from within.

Lead with clarity. Make space for others to do the same.

Thank you for pausing here. If my writing has offered meaningful insight or sparked a shift in how you see, feel, or move through the world, I would be honored to hear what stayed with you.

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All the best,
Ruthann

Career Journey: Things I’ve learned along the way

I’m grateful for a fulfilling career across multiple industries. In this post, I’ve shared a few practical lessons that helped me grow, adapt, and lead with purpose.

Be where you are

Know what’s expected of you and do it well. Being present means making the most of your current role: learn, grow, excel, and enjoy the work in front of you. It has a way of opening doors and drawing people and opportunities to you that will enable you to grow into your next role.
Learn from the past. Plan for the future. Live in the present by making the most of where you are right now.

Develop transferable skills

Develop skills that are relevant across roles and industries (e.g., communication, collaboration, problem-solving, adaptability, etc.). My career has spanned several industries including pharmaceuticals, telecom, consumer goods, and hospitality, made possible by developing and applying transferable skills.

Stretch Through Projects and Roles

Welcome assignments that help you stretch and grow. Growth doesn’t always come through promotion. Sometimes it’s a lateral move or a stretch assignment that helps you build new capabilities and prepare for what’s next. Embrace the journey of growing into your next role. Be as open to a lateral move or stretch assignment in your current role as you are a promotion if it will help you grow and ultimately achieve your career goals.

Listen & Learn

Feedback is a gift. Be open to constructive feedback from peers, managers, leaders, etc. Solicit feedback in a way that it is constructive and enables you to grow (e.g., behavior-based, example-based, suggestions for improvement, etc.). Ideally, leaders should include feedback gathered from business partners, peers, etc. as a part of mid-year and/or year-end conversations. If you’re not receiving regular feedback, ask for it, and be open to what you hear.

Surround yourself with people who want to see you grow

Spend time with people who genuinely want to see you grow. We all need inspiration, encouragement, reality checks, and people with whom we can be vulnerable in our personal and professional lives. Spend time with people who genuinely want to see you grow and be that person for others too.

Own Your Career by Knowing Yourself

Know your values, gifts, talents, passions, abilities, and areas of opportunity. Define what success means to you and revisit that definition as you grow. Your vision may evolve, and that’s part of the journey. Create a plan of action to bring your vision to life. Consider working with a mentor and/or coach. Know the difference between the two and work with them accordingly.

Thank you for reading. If this message feels true or timely, you’re welcome to share it with someone who may benefit by clicking on a share button below.

All the best,

Ruthann

In-Progress, LLC | Walk your path with intention, at your own pace

Monthly Reflection: Begin with the end in mind

We are all given the gift of twenty-four hours each day to spend as we choose. It is a gift that we treasure through the choices that we make. In the busyness of life, it’s easy to operate on autopilot and forget that we have the power to choose how we spend our time.

Time is one of your most valuable resources and it is inextricably linked to your life. The way you spend your time is the way you spend your life. The key to making the most of your time is to stay focused on what truly matters. It is an intentional process of reflecting on how you are spending your time relative to your values and goals.

As we begin a new month, I invite you to set aside 15 minutes to begin with the end in mind. Ask yourself the following questions with the end of the month in mind.

💥What have I accomplished?

💥Who have I spent time with?

💥How do I feel?

💥What do I need to start, stop, or do more of so that I can feel (whatever you identified)?

Create a daily structure that will enable you to bring what you have envisioned to life. Evaluate your progress on a weekly basis. Be patient with yourself and trust the process.

All the best,

Ruthann

In-Progress, LLC | Walk your path with intention, at your own pace

Know Yourself: The Key to Personal Success

SUCCESS is deeply personal and likely to change as you journey through life. Regardless of your age, it’s important to have your own definition of success to inspire and guide you. When you know what is important to you, and you understand why it’s important, you build a great foundation. This helps in creating your own definition of success.

This week, I invite you to deepen your knowledge about yourself. Use the power of the written word to work through the following:

💥KNOW who you are. Identify 3-5 positive “I AM” statements that describe you at your core. Affirm these qualities on a daily basis.

💥KNOW your values/what is most important to you. Write down 3-5 core values.

💥KNOW the reason(s) the values you identified are most important to you.

💥ENVISION what your life would look like if you were living your values. If your life is exactly as you envisioned, high five! If not, start to make changes to bring your life into alignment with your values.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you know someone who will gain from reading it, please share by clicking on a share button below.

All the best,

Ruthann

In-Progress, LLC | Walk your path with intention, at your own pace

Embrace Possibility: 3 Transformative Mindset Shifts

Let’s shift & move forward.

Instead of saying ‘My dream is impossible,’ affirm: ‘All things are divinely possible.’ There is more to life than what you can see. Learn to trust the process and stay open to possibility.

In this video, I share 3 transformative practices to help you embrace possibility.

Ask yourself powerful questions. They shape how you think, influence how you feel, and motivate action.
Quiet reflection. Create space to listen inwardly and notice what emerges.
Daily spiritual practice. Anchor your day with rituals that remind you of what is possible.

Exercise: Choose one of these practices today and notice how it shifts your perspective.

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All the best,

Ruthann

Envision Success: Create Your Own Definition

ENVISION: imagine as a future possibility

If you were to ask 10 people what success means, you would likely get 10 different answers. That’s because success is deeply personal and subject to change as we journey through life. Regardless of your age, it’s important to have your own definition of success to inspire and guide you. Without it, your life will be directed by other people’s vision of success.

Give Yourself Permission to Create Your Own Definition of Success

To envision success is to tap into your imagination and create a mental picture of a future state. You can initiate the process by thinking about how you would like your life to be at future point in time (e.g., 1 year, 3 years, etc.). What have you accomplished? Who have you become? What have you gained? Where have you been? Who have you spent time with? How have you impacted others? Once you have a mental picture of success, get in touch with how it would feel to achieve your vision of success. Capture your thoughts and feelings in a notebook or journal.

You may want to consider creating a vision board/visual representation of your desired future state. Include words, images, and symbols that represent your vision and feelings of success. Keep your board where you can see it on a daily basis.

“If you can dream it, you can do it.” —Walt Disney

Questions for reflection:

What does my vision look like?
What does my vision feel like?

Need support? Be True to You is designed to help you clarify your values and vision of success.

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All the best,

Ruthann

Create a Theme for Your Year: Focus on What Matters Most

Creating a theme for the year is a powerful way to stay focused on what matters most.

Create a short phrase that sums up what is most important to you this year. Use your theme to create 3-5 goals. Ensure your goals are SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time bound), use positive language, and affirm what you want to create versus what you want to avoid.

Review your theme on a daily basis. It will serve as a source of motivation and inspiration throughout the year. Consider using images and/or symbols as a visual reminder of your desired outcome.

Need help setting SMART goals? Check out my post SMART Goals: Bring Your Desires to Life.

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All the best,

Ruthann

The Power of Affirmations: A Mindset Shift for Clarity and Focus

Affirm what you want to create in your life.

In this video, I share how affirmations can help you shift your thinking and stay focused on what you want to create in your life. I outline four ways to make affirmations most effective: keeping them goal-focused, written in the present tense, using positive language, and making them short and memorable. You will also learn how to create a daily practice that makes affirmations a natural part of your journey.

Link highlighted in the video https://ruthannwilson.com/affirmations/

All the best,

Ruthann

In-Progress, LLC | Walk your path with intention, at your own pace

Discover Your Passion: Steps to Pursue What You Love

Passion: a strong feeling of enthusiasm or excitement for something or about doing something.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary

What do you have a strong feeling of enthusiasm or excitement about? Are you pursuing your passion? If not, why not?

In the busyness of life, it’s easy to operate on autopilot and not make time to pursue the things that we love and feel passionate about.

Passion comes from within. If you’re not sure what you are passionate about, create time to reflect on areas of interest or things that you enjoyed doing when you were younger. Start doing the things that you have identified to see if they still resonate with you. If you were interested in nature—start spending time in nature. If you were interested in certain causes—volunteer your time. If you enjoyed dancing—start dancing. If you enjoyed writing—start writing. If you enjoyed hiking—start hiking. You don’t have to wait for everything to be perfect to pursue what you love. Once you are clear on your passion, pursue it and see where it leads you.

If you say you are passionate about something that you are not pursuing, explore what is holding you back. Don’t let fear keep you from pursuing what you love. Commit to taking action even if it’s only small steps. Over time, small steps can have a big effect.

Give yourself time and permission to pursue your passion.

Question for reflection

What is one thing you can do this week to pursue your passion?

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All the best,

Ruthann

Live Simply and Authentically Through Your Values

SIMPLY: without ambiguity, clearly

Simplicity is a principle as well as a practice.

As a principle, simplicity is foundational to our lives—a core value from which we build our lives. When our aim is to live simply, truth becomes our guide. We tap into our personal truth with questions like “What is true for me?”, “What do I value most in my life?”, “What is best for my life?”, “What matters most in my life?”.

As a practice, simplicity is a process of staying focused, planning, organizing, and letting go of things that no longer bring you joy or serve your highest good.

Living simply is not about living without. It’s about living with intention from the inside out. Take the first step—identify, clarify, and prioritize your values.

Do you need support? Be True to You is designed to help you clarify what truly matters and create the life that you desire.

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All the best,

Ruthann