Orienting Your Life Around Your Values

"Happiness is that state of consciousness which proceeds from the
achievement of one's values."  - Ayn Rand

Would you like to know the secret to happiness? 

Do you want the key to living a life of joy and fulfillment? 

It's simple!  The greatest sense of happiness, joy and fulfillment
comes from living in alignment with your values.

"What do you mean by values?" you may ask.  Well, they are those
qualities that excite and energize you most in life.  They exist
within your core.  You don't really choose them.  You can't pick
them out and try them on for size.    Instead, you discover what
values already exist within you and, if you're wise, you embrace
them and let them inform your life.  They're neither positive nor
negative in and of themselves, but they turn you on and make you
feel alive.

Some people are energized by values like learning, discovery, and
mastery.  Some are most excited by creativity, designing,
inspiring, and even entertaining others.  Some personalities find
their greatest joy in spirituality, contributing, serving and
impacting lives.  Pleasure, adventure and freedom are qualities
that energize some folks, while others are happiest in activities
characterized by personal interaction, encouragement and
leadership.  All of these qualities are values.

So often we are too busy setting and pursuing goals without
knowing what we truly value in life, and therefore end up
achieving our goals and saying, "Is that all there is?" 

If adventure is a key value in your life, then no matter how
excellently you perform mundane tasks that require little risk and
how lavishly you may be praised or rewarded for it, you'll still
feel dissatisfied. 

When you discover your values and find a means to express them
through your actions, you can experience a sense of certainty, an
inner peace, and a total congruency that many people never come to
know.  Orienting your life around your values guarantees joy and
satisfaction.

Clients often come to me because they don't feel fulfilled or
satisfied with their work or relationships. We start by
prioritizing their top 5 values and come up with some creative
strategies to reorient their goals so that they are
honoring those values. The result is often that they experience
renewed energy and purpose and a higher level of success. 

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Here are some questions to ask yourself-questions that may help
you to identify some of your own core values.

Write a list of words or phrases for your responses.

1. What human qualities do you value most?  (e.g., peace, love,
honesty, etc.)  What is most important in life?

2. Write a list of the 10-12 times in the past 5 years when you
were being and doing your best.  In those moments when you were at
your best, what quality of life were you directly in touch with
or expressing?  Do you see a pattern?

3. Think of the peak experiences in your life.  What were some of
the important qualities you were experiencing?

4. Prioritize your list of values. When you list them in order,
you may see how the order affects your choices. Someone who values
fun more than financial security will have a completely different
lifestyle than someone with the reverse.

5. Match your goals with your values. Any goals that can't find a
'home' with a matching value, needs to be revised or changed to
better express your values.

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Remember - whatever your values are, they affect the direction of
your life. The only way for you to have long term fulfillment is to
live in alignment with your true values.

Comments

[Motivational Notepads]

You are rite.. One should do those things of which he is passionate about. But all the time one can't follow the passion. There are other things to be performed in the life.

[Julieanne]

I think what he is getting at here, is that we should find out who we are inside, and slowly but surely, align our outward lives with who we are within, then happiness will be the fruit. If I find something that makes me feel alive, I don't necessarily have to choose that as my profession. In addition to whatever job I have that makes $ and pays the bills, I can pursue my passion just for the pure bliss of it. Of course, balance is needed in every aspect of life. If I am a spiritual person, I don't need to run and join a convent tomorrow to pursue my religious ardor or if I value nature, I don't have to live out in the woods and run around naked with the bears. :) To build upon the above article... If I am an apple but wrongly think I am a banana and strive to be a banana, I will fret constantly about my round shape, dark rosy color, and thin peel. If I come to realize I am actually an apple, I will become grateful for the very qualities I once despised and will slowly begin to live my life as an apple and be the best apple I can be.