In my most recent session with my life coach, we discussed how to identify your values so you can determine if you are living life in accordance with that which you value most. It sounds like a simple exercise, but it was actually a bit more thought-provoking than I would have guessed, so I thought I would share this topic and expand on it with you, my readers.
To begin, she presented me with a list of about 50 words, and I had to circle the Top 10 that meant the most to me; the ones that reflected what I value most. Naturally, because I am me, I couldn’t keep it to just ten! I went slightly over and said “this must mean I am an overachiever”, but it just means I value a lot of traits and qualities in people and I need to focus on them more.
Why is this so important? Because we all get caught up going through life and going about our day-to-day activities without sometimes pausing to reflect on whether or not this activity, this job, or this relationship is actually bringing us any value or whether or not it actually is a reflection of our values. We often feel pulled in several directions, some of which were really don’t want to go in. I’m at this place right now. Spread thin. Feeling guilty for making choices I shouldn’t feel guilty about. Clarifying my priorities.
Living by your values helps create the roadmap for our lives, so getting clear on what we value is key. When we identify what we place the highest value on, we can look at where we are & how we spend our time, and whether or not we are in alignment with our true selves.
What does all that mean? In short, it means living life on your terms based on what’s most important to you. I know this is sometimes easier said than done, but this is a blueprint that we should all try to apply in all areas of our lives to live as authentically as possible. This blueprint can be applied to our family lives, our professional lives, our personal lives, and really every aspect of our lives.
The result of not living according to our values means living in disharmony rather than harmony. When you go against your values or live your life in a way that is contrary to what you value most, then you are likely to be feeling stress and anxiety in those areas. You will feel constantly conflicted by what you want to do and what you think is expected of you. When we fail to live our truth, we cause an inner conflict within ourselves that no doubt will spill over into other areas of our life as well. This can lead to taking it out on our relationships, experiencing physical health problems, trouble sleeping, etc.
So how do we identify our true values? Here are a few things you can ask yourself:
- Write down 10-15 things/traits, virtues that are important to you.
- Describe yourself to someone who doesn’t know you in 20 words or less.
- Who do you find inspiring and why?
- What qualities in others do you find hard to tolerate? The opposite of that is likely something you value highly.
- What is most/least important to you.
Start here and let your journey of self-discovery take you wherever it leads. I hope that you will take a few minutes to reflect on living your values and then Fearlessly and Faithfully go about making any adjustments you need to live a happy life. Should you need some help, I have just the life coach to recommend to you!
