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Find and Live your Values

Mar 9, 2021

At The Self Centre we spend a lot of time working with people to discover their values, and live a life aligned with them. When you identify your values, you can set meaningful goals that are congruent with who you are, and this means you are much more likely to achieve these goals. Values are those things that you believe are important for your life, they are the deep drivers of your personality.  When you act and behave in ways that are consistent with your values, you feel satisfied and content with your life – that’s why it is important to be conscious of what your values are. Sometimes the reasons that we don’t achieve our goals or New Year’s Resolutions is because they are not connected to our values and so they are not an authentic priority for us.

Here are some suggestions for creating a values-based 2021:

1. Identify Your Values

The best place to get started is to go through a list of values (see below) and highlight all that stand out to you. Then go through it as many more times as you need until you have a top 3-5 list of values

It may be hard to narrow your list down, but think about what you spend your time focussed on or the things that you live and die for. These are your priorities and matter so much to you, that you would leave a job or a relationship to honour them. Your values may change over time as you age, but generally you will see that your core values are things that have always been important to you throughout your life.

2. How Much Time Do You Spend on Your Values?

Reflecting on your values, how much time in your life is devoted to each of them? The way you spend your time reflects your priorities, so if you don’t spend any time on the things that you really value, you may be feeling dissatisfied, anxious or unhappy.

Is how you spend your time a true reflection of what’s important to you? If not, try to ensure that in each day you are doing something that is purposely aligned with your value system.

Once you align your time and attention to your values, you may notice how much better you feel.

3. Set Priorities

If you have been neglecting some of your values, then which ones will you focus on for 2021? By setting a focus on a few key values, this will help you make decisions, say yes to opportunities, create a daily routine and set limits on activities that don’t support your priorities. It can actually simplify your life

4. Review Your Values

Check in on a daily, weekly and monthly basis with your values and determine whether you are moving towards your priorities or moving away from them. Sometimes we get busy and become disconnected from our priorities. A regular check in and reflection on our choices and plans to see if they match our priorities is a great way to stay on track.

Usually when we find ourselves feeling more stressed, anxious, angry or down than normal, it’s a sign that we may have gotten off track with our values. Remind yourself every morning what your values are and try to keep them in mind throughout your day.

Would you like support to live a more values-based life in 2021?

Our team at The Self Centre can help you discover and connect to your values. Contact our office on 0403 215 118 to enquire or make an appointment.