In our fast-paced world, it's all too easy to get caught up in the whirlwind of daily life, leaving us feeling overwhelmed, drained, and close to burnout.
But what if there was a way to sustain our motivation, energy, and peace of mind, that didn't involve doing more, but rather living aligned with our core values?
One clue to that is in research on burnout, where they have found that beyond the amount of workload, the lack of meaning and/or the lack of valued relationships at work contribute significantly to people getting burnt out.
In a recent video, I explored the concept of living our values as the foundation for both moment-to-moment well-being and long-term fulfillment. You can watch it below.
Let's delve deeper into how aligning our actions with our core values can help us navigate the demands of modern life with calm and resilience.
Values are energising and motivating
Words have power. If you think about or say a word, this conjures up a mental concept you have about it and unleashes a whole cascade of physical reactions in your body—making you feel a certain way, and in turn think in a certain way.
So as an experiment, if you say something that isn't your value, like *greed* - notice how that word feels in your body. It's probably in some way uncomfortable, icky.
And now say something to yourself that you deeply value. For example, two of my top values are *joy* and *love*. What are yours?
Say them to yourself, in your mind or out loud, and feel how the words feel in your body.
Each of these words will feel differently within you. Like striking a different chord on an instrument. How you make yourself feel with your own thinking (in short, what you focus on), is crucially important to how you experience your life, and what you feel capable of doing. It's essential to take charge of your focus if you want to create a life by design, not on autopilot.
So, focusing on things like your values is a great daily practice. You can write them down, think them, or have them written up somewhere and read them every time you pass by. Notice how you feel afterwards :)
In addition to making us feel good, values have been shown to increase people's motivation to achieve their goals. In one study, people who were reminded of their values daily (it was done via a text message) were significantly more successful in achieving their goals. Values are proven to be motivating for us, even if they may seem unrelated to what we're doing! What a great reason to know them and refer to them daily.
If you want help in clarifying what your core values are, download my free guide - Know Your Values - below.
Values are a part of our inner compass
Inner compass is that ability within each of us that shows us the direction we're going in, and whether we're in line with where we're wanting to go.
That's exactly what values can do for us. But when we aren't aware of them, we often operate in the exact opposite way.
Think about it—how often were you faced with a decision, and you based it on what you thought you *should* do instead of what really mattered to you?
Without being grounded in our values, we can make big strides in the wrong direction, end up unsatisfied, and then wonder how that happened.
When we approach our goal-setting and our decision-making with values in mind, we ask ourselves, "What do I actually hope to achieve by going in this direction?" Remember, we are always after the values, never the surface results of the goals we aim to achieve.
So when we align our actions with our values, we end up with a much more fulfilling life path.
Do you rush through your days on autopilot, reacting to one demand after another, without pausing to consider whether your actions are truly aligned with what matters to you most? By being aware of your values, and being mindful in the moment, you can stop and consciously choose how you want to show up in the world.
I recall how during the pandemic I made it a point to write out my top 3 values, put them up on a wall, and act in line with them daily. There it was, my list: Love - Joy - Growth. So when I went shopping, and there was a shortage of so many things, people panic buying – I chose to act out of my value of love, only taking what I needed, because acting out of love meant I cared about the next person who also needed supplies.
Now, take a moment now to pause, breathe, and reflect on what your core values are. What truly matters to you? What drives you? And what is even deeper than that?
Write down what comes up, get to about 8, then reflect again and if you want, sort them in order of priority. You can journal about what each value means to you too.
Notice how you feel after you've spent some time reflecting and connecting with your values.
Then, keep the list of your top 3 - 5 values somewhere visible as a daily reminder. Whenever you find yourself feeling overwhelmed or off-center, return to these values as your guiding star.
But living our values isn't just about the here and now—it's about having a long-term perspective too. It's about making choices today that align with our vision for the future and contribute to a life we can be proud of.
Finally, I invite you to consider, what one small step can you take today to live more in line with one of your values now and in the long-term?
Download my *Know Your Values* sheet if you want guidance in clarifying what your key values are. And remember that as we evolve and change, some of our values can evolve and change too.
Thank you for reading, and until next time, I wish you well,
Mojca
x