As we close out our branding education in last week’s episode, we’ll switch directions and explore the Authentic Alchemy philosophy in more detail. This week we explore innate value.

Innate Value

One of the core tenets in the Authentic Alchemy philosophy is the idea that we are all born with innate value. This means you carry something to offer the world that is integral. A gift inside that needs no concoction.

I see it like this:
When we withhold our full selves, we cheat others of the chance for us to illuminate their lives in our own unique way. We also cheat ourselves of the experience of witnessing our own unique value in action.

When we live in the truth of who we are and engage others living in their truth, we exchange secret gifts and keys. Self-abandonment breaks that exchange. The breakdown of this feedback loop is essentially the breakdown of outward fulfillment.

How and why this happens is a whole subject I cover in depth in my upcoming book, Authentic Identity. Often it’s a mixture of perceived opportunity, social pressures, self-doubt, or plain ignorance.

Sacred Value

Today’s materialist view often leaves us in spiritual poverty. By spiritual, I mean a personal relationship with one’s own experience—a witnessing of the miraculous landscape that unfolds before us each day.

I bring up this relationship with life because the same magic we witness outside also lives inside. Our innate value connects with the value of others.

This is sacred purpose. Others need you, and you need them, to complete the picture.

Mapping Innate Value

So how do you find it? Sometimes life drops it in your lap. Sometimes purpose falls away to create space for something more authentic to grow. Sometimes we grow into it in unexpected ways. Sometimes it arrives as an aha moment as we know ourselves more deeply.

Often it’s something we have a knack for, something we do well with little effort, something that pulls us naturally.

Reexamine childhood for clues. Children often express unrestrained knowing and curiosity before conditioning sets in. If memory feels fuzzy, ask a parent or family friend. Reestablish your memories and reconnect with the natural passions you felt as a child.

Ask yourself, “What would I do if I won a billion dollars?” Where would you focus your energy without financial pressure?

What makes you angry or frustrated? What has hurt you deeply? Anger can point us to our passions. I use this often. I examine my frustration with the world, sit down, and articulate it clearly in words. It reveals something important to me. This work I am doing now comes from a frustration with seeing people feel lost in the world.

Sometimes it’s something we see that pulls on us. I remember as a child feeling awe and a desire to connect when I saw large groups practicing tai chi in the park. Trapeze also returned in my mind year after year. These touch-ins can make you aware of things that call from deep inside.

Ask a trusted friend or family member. People close to us often see what we block from our own view. Ask, “What do you think I am naturally gifted at?”

Sometimes we already know our calling. We feel it, yet we struggle to believe it’s possible. At times we even convince ourselves it cannot be, so we avoid facing our own vulnerability around how others perceive us. The old story says, “You can’t fail if you don’t try,” so why bother.

This signals a fracture in the sacred relationship with the self. Uncomfortable emotion rises for examination. These blockages start to melt when felt. Give time and space for the emotions of self-abandonment to surface. You may discover that many of these stories come from other people’s limiting ideas you picked up along the way.

Meditation supports all of the explorations above. See it as intimate time with your own inner dialogue. Time set aside to actually hear yourself. Not an external voice you wait to hear, but the natural paths that emerge once you sit, breathe deeply, and allow thoughts, feelings, and emotions to fall away, revealing the one inside who watches those phenomena arise and descend. If you’re looking for guidance, Sam Harris has a short guided meditation online that can change your life: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CN-_zzHpcdM

Esoteric Exploration

In addition to “practical” explorations, there is a whole world of folk, spiritual, and cultural traditions for exploring innate value. I love the Japanese view of ikigai, the meeting point of joy, skill, and service. Keeping this trinity in mind offers a clear way to test whether one’s value is truly realized. Here are a few other examples:

Greece: Daimon as inner guide; honor it to channel talent.
Rome: Genius as personal spirit; feed it to sustain creativity.
Yoruba Ifá: Orí as head destiny chosen before birth; divination clarifies path.
Vedic India: Svadharma as right work; Jyotish offers timing.
Lakota: Vision quest reveals direction through fasting, prayer, and signs.

Purpose in the Stars

In our quest to rationalize society, we may have thrown out the baby with the bathwater by dismissing traditions that offer helpful insight into the human condition. To me, astrology is one of those. Not as goofy spiritualism or fortune-telling, but as a tool for insight into personal gifts and challenge points.

The positions of the planets when you were born create a natal chart. They sit in a circle, and the geometric angles between them reveal gifts and challenges. This circle is also cut into 12 slices like a pizza. Each slice, called a house, represents a theme in life—home, family, friends, and so on. The 10th house represents outward expression in the world or career. To know what sign your 10th house is in, you need your rising sign, or ascendant. If you don’t know it, you can get your chart online here: https://www.astrology.com/birth-chart

Find your rising or ascendant sign and look below for general inclinations toward career or self-expression. This is general, yet it can give you points to reflect on as you move toward self-discovery.

Aries Rising (10th: Capricorn)
Systems builder, COO, architect, engineer, policymaker, operations lead, finance or infrastructure leadership

Taurus Rising (10th: Aquarius)
Innovation and platform work, tech product, UX, data and AI ethics, climate tech, community networks, social impact ventures

Gemini Rising (10th: Pisces)
Film and music, healing arts, spiritual guidance, photography, fragrance and beverage, hospitality, nonprofit creative direction

Cancer Rising (10th: Aries)
Founder energy, emergency medicine, surgery, athletics, engineering, product launches, campaign leadership, protective services

Leo Rising (10th: Taurus)
Brand design, luxury goods, fashion, culinary and agriculture, real estate, music production, wealth stewardship, artisan enterprises

Virgo Rising (10th: Gemini)
Writing and editing, teaching, research, marketing strategy, product management, logistics, journalism, multidisciplinary communications

Libra Rising (10th: Cancer)
Hospitality and home brands, food and nourishment ventures, early education, real estate, community care, counseling, lineage and legacy projects

Scorpio Rising (10th: Leo)
Creative direction, entertainment leadership, entrepreneurship, gaming and immersive media, performance arts, youth-focused ventures

Sagittarius Rising (10th: Virgo)
Healthcare and wellness operations, diagnostics and data analysis, publishing and editorial, craft and restoration, quality systems, service design

Capricorn Rising (10th: Libra)
Law and mediation, diplomacy, partnership-driven businesses, branding and aesthetics, HR and client services, cultural relations

Aquarius Rising (10th: Scorpio)
Research and forensics, psychotherapy, crisis leadership, cybersecurity, venture finance, deep tech R&D, transformation consulting

Pisces Rising (10th: Sagittarius)
Teaching and academia, publishing, ministry and philosophy, travel enterprises, outdoor education, international development

The Journey

Not everyone finds innate value through work. Sometimes it appears as insight. Sometimes it lives in friendship and care. Sometimes it looks like getting something done that helps the world go around. What matters is that our action comes from a place that feels true inside.

Thanks for joining me this week. Take care!

SHARE THE JOURNEY

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Thank you for sharing this journey. See you next Monday!
Dustin Byerley

Explore more → dustinbyerley.com
IG: @dustin.byerley
Email: [email protected]

Authentic Alchemy Philosophy

A Framework for Becoming

Authentic Alchemy is a structured process for uncovering and expressing the core identity of any entity, whether a brand, business, leader, or individual. It emerged from the realization that the principles of brand science offer powerful tools for guiding any entity toward its highest expression.

Every entity holds innate value, though it’s often hidden by emotional patterning, inherited beliefs, and social pressures. These internal blocks can stifle genuine expression across personal, relational, and business contexts, masking the true value of your unique offering to the world. For those ready to explore meaningful self-discovery, Authentic Alchemy provides the clarity, structure, and tools necessary to uncover and clearly articulate this genuine identity.

Our core principle, Truth, realigns an entity into a state of homeostasis where it can begin to function with ease, embodying its vital character, unique perspectives, and genuine ways of being. Empathy deepens this connection by recognizing that expression is inherently relational. It attunes entities to how others experience their offer, ensuring the message is received clearly and resonates meaningfully. Together, truth and empathy create resonance, an undeniable frequency that naturally attracts alignment and connection. This resonance creates coherence, a natural alignment between identity and expression that fosters genuine magnetism.

Drawing from diverse frameworks, Authentic Alchemy also integrates tools and insights from ancient and esoteric traditions alongside proven brand science, broadening its impact into a holistic dimension. This approach marks a clear break from conventional methods that rely on superficial appeal or manipulation. When your innate value is aligned with truth and resonance, success becomes intrinsic and inevitable. Any distortion or inauthenticity disrupts this natural resonance, which is why the process must begin and remain rooted in truth.

The result? You become more than visible. You become inevitable. When you achieve this level of coherence, you naturally attract the right people, opportunities, and outcomes because you're operating from a place of effortless authority.

Authentic Alchemy connects core identity to how it is experienced in the world. It moves from self-discovery to full expression, translating essence into clear language, visuals, and presence. This is identity as signal, turning purpose into impact.