By What you value reflects how you live life and how you work. You likely use them to gauge whether or not your life is going as you anticipated. They should help you set your priorities. Life is usually good when the things you believe and the way you act matches your values. However, if they aren’t aligned with your values, then things feel unbalanced. A situation like this can leave you feeling unhappy. Can we identify our deepest values? Do you know what they are?
We all have deep values. Sometimes it is an overused and often misunderstood phrase. We all are born without any set of values; however, we have a deep understanding of them since we are being taught them by our family. While we grow up and learn how life works and what the best way to live is, we start learning and integrating the moral values or deep values to guide us throughout life.
1 Establishing Your Values
Understanding your values allows you to discover what’s most important to you. Start by looking back on your life and identifying the moments when you felt really good and confident that your choices were the right ones.
Discover your happiest moments
- Include examples from your professional and personal lives. This will help balance your responses.
- Do you remember what you were doing?
- Were there other people with you? And what made their presence so cherishing?
- How else did you make yourself happy?
Name the moments in which you were most proud
- Your career and personal experiences can serve as examples.
- How did you feel proud?
- Were others proud of you as well?
- Did you have any other reasons for feeling proud?
Think back to when you were at your most fulfilled
- Using both personal and professional examples is recommended.
- Was there a need or desire that was met?
- What made the experience meaningful to you, and why?
- How else did you feel fulfilled?
2 Choose your top values based on what makes you happy, proud, and fulfilled
A Identify the top values you hold dear
The most challenging step is probably the one where you have to look deeply within yourself. Making a decision is also the most difficult step, as you must choose between solutions that may satisfy different values. At this point, you need to know which value is more important to you.
Listed in no particular order, write down your top values.
Think about the first two values and then ask yourself, “If I could satisfy only one of them, which one would I choose?” You might find it helpful to visualize a situation where you would have to choose. Imagine, as an example, deciding whether you should sell your house and relocate abroad to do valuable foreign aid work, versus keeping your house and volunteering close to home. You will need to compare each value with each other value until your list is in the correct order.
3 Reaffirm your commitment to your values
Make sure your top-priority values are compatible with the life you have and the vision you have for yourself.
- Do you feel good about yourself when you live by these values?
- How proud are you of your top three values?
- Could you tell people you respect and admire your values with confidence and pride?
- Would you support these values even if they are unpopular and you are in the minority?
You can be confident and clear when you approach decisions with integrity and your sense of what’s right when you consider your values. In addition, you will know that what you’re doing is right for your current and future happiness and satisfaction. It may not always be easy to make value-based decisions. In the end, it is easier to make a decision that you know is right with your intuition.
4 Values and How They Help
Even if you don’t recognize them, values exist. Acknowledging your values and making plans and decisions that reflect them can make life much easier. Is it possible to feel internal conflict and stress if you value family but work 70-hour weeks in your job? Are you likely to be satisfied with the job you have if you don’t value competition, and you work in a highly competitive sales environment? Understanding your values can help you deal with these situations.
By knowing your values, you can use them to guide your decision-making, and you can answer questions like these:
- What should I do for a living?
- Is this promotion worth accepting?
- What are the pros and cons of starting business?
- Should I compromise, or should I stick to my plan?
- Is it better to follow tradition or take a new path?
- Shall I speak the truth at the cost of loss?
- Is it ok to have boundaries in relationships?
- What can be the result if I chose to swim against the flow?
- How I can contribute to making this world a better place to live in?
- Does my company for which I am working have a sense of responsibility in their products and services?
Therefore, take the time to determine your life’s priorities, and you’ll be able to determine what direction you should take!
Note:
Generally, values are stable, but they do not have clear limits or boundaries. Additionally, values can change over time. Success – as measured by money and status – may be a top priority when you start your career. Having a family may make you value work-life balance more than anything else. Your values change as you redefine success. Maintaining your values throughout your life is essential. It is important to keep reviewing this, especially if you feel unbalanced for no apparent reason. Nevertheless, at the end of the day, your soul will be content if you live your life with the guidance of your Deep Values. Living life with deep values will make you be a better human being.
Listed below are a few values to follow.
What makes an experience truly memorable and important? To help you get started, here is a list of common personal values. Make sure to pick about 10 of your top values. The more you think about these, the more you will realize that some of them combine naturally. For instance, if you value philanthropy, generosity, and community, you might also value service to others.)
Embrace optimism: As a result, if you are not optimistic, you are just pessimistic. Life is hard to improve if you only focus on the positive aspects of it. You will be able to keep going and grow in difficult times if you remain optimistic. Would be pink if you wear pink glasses. Be love and spread love.
Don’t discriminate: We should treat everyone equally no matter what happens to us in life. When people reach a certain stage in society, they may look down upon others. Equality is the value we all need to follow in all walks of our life.
Authenticity is key: There’s nothing complicated about it. If you put on a fake face, you won’t last long. Be proud of your uniqueness. Wear your authenticity as your crown and see how you are being celebrated by the world.
Continually Following: Unless actions are taken, words are meaningless. Because what gets done matters at the end, hence act on your words.
Being happy: There is always a silver lining to every cloud. There is always something for which we should be thankful. Happiness can be found by learning to see that even in the worst of circumstances. Even if the thing is not going your way, if you chose to be grateful and be happy for the blessings you are being showered by, you will see how it transform your life.
Epitomize Leadership: You cannot preach what you do not follow, or else it will lose all its meaning. Set the value, follow them and let your followers respect you for the same.
Putting more into your giving than you’re receiving: Two for one if you take one. With this tradition, everyone will benefit in the end. This is the wisdom of the world is time tested.
Being Massively Responsible: Where you are in your life is your responsibility. Blaming anyone else is not an option. It will do you no good. Whatever happens, the first thing you need to look at is what you did.
Present in the moment: Be present in the moment with body, mind, and spirit if you choose to be somewhere. You don’t owe it to others or yourself to not give each moment your full attention.
Be courageous: You never know what will happen when you step outside of your comfort zone. It is most rewarding to do it when you’re scared to do it. Life’s most crucial decisions can also be the most frightening.
Conclusion
It can be challenging to select and recognize your values. You are determined by your values and who you want to be based on them. When you become more aware of these important factors in your life, you’ll be able to make the most informed decisions in every circumstance. In the end, some of life’s decisions come down to what you value most. In situations where the choices seem numerous, it’s helpful and comforting to rely on your values – and use them as a strong guiding force to lead you in the right direction.