In my last article, The First Step In Finding Meaning For Your Life, you went through a huge list of words and selected the 15 words that had an important meaning to you. Then you narrowed down that list to the 5 words that meant the most for your life. These words were your values. As Julius asked, what’s next?
After finding the values that mean the most to you and your life, the next step is making the necessary changes in your life so that you are living according to those values.
You should be centering your life around the values that you selected as meaning the most for your life.
Some people may be already living their life congruent to their values, but if you are not of those people, now’s the time to change your life to suit what you values you selected as being the most important.
Change can be very scary, but so is living an incongruent life.
When you went through the word list and selected the 5 words that meant the most to you, those words then became part of your awareness of what you want to be in your life. It behooves you to live according to those values otherwise you will have conflict and be susceptible to anything or anyone that enters your life. Knowing that one value is important while another is not means that you are able to make decisions in your life that are authentic for you.
Let’s say that your 5 values were:
- Love
- Learn
- Freedom
- Independent
- Adventure
Think about your life and the values that you selected as having the most meaning in your life. Ask yourself if you are currently expressing those values right now in your life.
Do you have lots of Love in your life right now? Are you Learning? Do you have Freedom and Adventure in your life? Are you Independent?
If not, what changes are you going to make in your life so that you are living according to your values?
Ask yourself what do you need to add to your life or remove from your life so that you are living authentically with the values that you said meant the most to you.
What do you need to do to bring more Love in your life? What changes do you need to make so that your need for independence, adventure and freedom are fully expressed in your life?
It helps to make a list of changes that you need to make in your life so that you are really living according to your top values.
For example, write down 3 necessary changes that you are willing to make so that you will have more Love in your life:
1. Nurture my relationship with my spouse and be attentive when they come home from work.
2. Tell my children every day how much I love them and appreciate them.
3. Schedule time every day to take better care of myself.
You should do this for each of your top values. It’s okay if you can’t come up with 3 changes per value as you might already be living your life according to that value.
Use the power of your values as motivating forces so that you can super-charge your life and make the necessary changes so that you are living a meaningful existence.
Related Posts:
1. Top 5 Reasons To Leave Your Job
2. My Top 5 Secret Success Factors
3. Invest In Your Most Important Asset – Yourself
4. 10 Things You Can Do Right Now To Improve Your Life
5. Are You Being Your True Authentic Self?
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This is a truly life changing way of living. Like with anything else, it takes practice and attention, but over time it becomes more automatic. One thing I’ve noticed is that my to-do list looks a lot different than it did a few years ago. These days nearly all of my daily activities line up with my values, so progress is being made!
Jean Sarauer´s last blog ..Empire Building 101: Designing a Custom Content Strategy
Hi Jean,
I agree that it’s a great way of living according to what’s important to you. You’re right – it takes practice, plus knowing your values in life so that you are not distracted or confused at the things that affect our life. When you know your values you are able to make the right choices.
Thanks so much for your comment.
Karen
Karen I like the concept but notice the whole heap of questions in the article. All that questioning would get my head spinning and that’s why I advocate LESS meaning and MORE living. We often over enquire and ponder life’s meaning and our life’s meaning tying ourselves up in knots trying to answer these riddles. To me simply declare one or two things you believe in and work to those intentions.Otherwise meanings can become too meaning-full. Fantastic array of posts you’ve done though all well written and thought out and lovely looking site. Congratulations.
John Sherry´s last blog ..The Danger of Meaning
Welcome John,
I can appreciate where you’re coming from and believe that a minimalist life is something that speaks to a lot of people.
The questions in the article where there to ask yourself if you are already living according to your values – whether you have 1, 2 or 5 plus values in your life – it doesn’t matter as long as you value and stand for something. In your own case, it looks like freedom from stuff and independence and your belief that less is more is what you value in life. Great! It looks like you’ve already internalized those values and are living accordingly.
For others, discovering their values and ensuring that that they are living according to their own personal values is definitely a worthwhile exercise in order to find meaning in their lives.
Thanks for the viewpoint and your comment.
Karen
Better pull my finger out and whip tha list of 22 down to size
I’ll be back when I’m done Karen. Great series though. Thank you 
Eleanor Edwards´s last blog ..Friday Friend: @Maria_Muir #FollowFriday
Hi Eleanor,
You can do it! Don’t overanalyze the exercise too much. It should be easy to read through the words and choose the ones that speak to your heart. Coming up with 15 and narrowing it down to 5 are just guidelines. Do what works *for you*.
Thanks,
Karen
Hi Karen, long time no come around sorry. Right now? I am absolutely Learning. without a doubt. Learning to live, learning to love myself and discovering where My heart has been for the last 5 years. It has taken alot of crying nights and days and keeping friends like you around to keep me going so thanks.
Hi Butterfly,
Nothing to apologize about – you’re welcome anytime. We all go through the periods of change (check out my change article to tell where you are in the process). Some take longer than others (believe me, I know!).
You’ll be fine – you’re a lot stronger than you realize and have done the hard work to get where you currently are – which is a much better place for you.
Thanks so much for your kind words.
Karen
Hi Karen,
As some other commentators mentioned, this is an amazing idea.
Here is the one that gets me most –
“Ask yourself what do you need to add to your life or remove from your life so that you are living authentically with the values that you said meant the most to you.”
The concept of living authentically, in my estimation living according to the way that you want to live as opposed to the way that you perceive others of expecting you to live, is extraordinarily meaningful to me.
I certainly have followed others, but generally do what I want to (sometimes to a fault). Finding a balance and using good judgment to determine the best path at various points of life is an incredible skill to acquire.
You sure have given me a bunch of things to think about. I appreciate it!
Have a great day!
Hi Mark,
I’m so glad that the article resonated with you and it’s fantastic that you’ve developed the internal fortitude to live your life the way that you want to do and are authentic.
A balance is the key!
Thanks,
Karen
Very glad to read the second part of this set of strategies, Karen. Shortly I’ll go back to my list and make it into an outline where the five values are the main ideas and under them, I’ll place the activities I need to live each value.
Julius´s last blog ..Can Blind People See?
As the impetus for this 2nd part of the article, Julius, I do hope you go through the exercises and see where it leads you. Let me know if I can help.
Thanks,
Karen
Thanks so much, Karen.
I notice that while I’m thinking of the activities needed in each value, I sometimes have the same activities for two or more values. This is generally normal, I guess.
Julius´s last blog ..The Challenges of Internet Users with Low or limited Vision
Hey Karen, this is my first time at your blog. It’s really packed with good info. This post is similar to one of the ideas I use in my life. I make a list of all the qualities I want and each day go over what I did that brought out that quality in me. It’s a great exercise!
Faizal Nisar´s last blog ..How to Build Confidence
Welcome Faizal,
Thanks for taking the time to comment and to check out the site. That sounds like a great exercise to do at the start and at the end of each day! It will certainly keep you on track and have your values front-and-center for your waking moments.
Thanks,
Karen
Hi Karen. There’s a great book by Steve McDermott. He talks about getting yourself into the right frame of mind when you’re heading home and thinking about what the best dad /husband/lover would do when they got in.
If you’re more receptive, then you’re more likely to behave as that person you want to be.
Matthew Needham´s last blog ..Lessons from Lady Gaga and Luke Skywalker
Hi Matthew,
What’s the book called?
I agree that it’s all about your mindset and being clear on what you want out of life. Knowing your values and living according to them is a great way to accomplish this.
Thanks,
Karen
Hello Karen,
I remember doing this wonderful exercise years ago when I was evaluating potential careers. We can talk a good game of what we’d like to do, but progress will be short lived if our efforts are not in alignment with our values. I enjoy how you’ve opened the exercise up and have applied it to life. It’s worthwhile checking in and evaluating every so often
Hi Kim,
Thanks for your comment.
As you say, we need to align our efforts with our values, otherwise what’s the point? And, I agree that we should revisit the exercise every so often to make sure that we are still aligned to our values. As with anything, they can change over time. What was important to us 5 years ago (or even last year) may have changed as we have grown.
Thanks,
Karen
hi karen,
how are you?
thanks for sharing the follow up to the previous article.
as i think on those words add to your life and remove from your life, i have realised that we could struggle because our egos, ignorance, fear of change, lack of exposure… all get in the way. but we must do it if we want to live fulfilled and authentic lives.i also think mathew is referring to the book ttled how to be a complete and utter failure in life work and everything.
take care and enjoy the rest of the weekend.
ayo´s last blog ..Practical Ways To Deal With Stress
Hi Ayo,
I’m well and I hope you are enjoying the weekend.
You make a very good point about other ‘stuff’ getting in the way of being authentic to what we truly value in your life. It takes courage to ignore everything else and live your own life, according to your own values.
Thanks for the title clarification. I thought that might be it when I did a search but I’m not familar with the author or book.
Karen
Hi Karen! Great post. I think it’s always a good idea to do regular check-ins with yourself to reassess your values and priorities and make sure you’re meeting them the very best you can. Whether that means making adjustments or staying the course, with regular “dates” with yourself and your priorities, you’ll be a much happier person overall, at least in my book.
Welcome Cori,
Thanks for the comment.
I agree that we should reassess our values as we grow. What might have been important last year may not be as important this year. If you don’t do a regular check-in you might be allowing less important values to govern your life.
Thanks,
Karen
Hi Karen,
Until last year, I was more concerned in keeping other people happy and helping them as much as I could so they could live up to their own values. Unaware that I was totally neglecting my values and not giving them much thought or care. This year I decided to give much needed attention to myself and what I needed and that was to be happy and have peace. Its a slow ongoing process, in order to find happiness I need to remove most of the negative aspects which is difficult when you have lived with them for so long. But my motto over the months has been ‘never give up’, and it may take a lifetime to find that happiness and peace but I still wont give up.
Maria´s last blog ..Celebrity Status – With A FaceBook FanPage
Hi Maria,
That’s great advice – take care of yourself and never give up. At the end of the day, that’s all that we can do for ourselves.
Thanks so much for sharing,
Karen
Hey Karen!
I just read your post over on infopreneur and loved it so I thought I’d stop by here! Really awesome list of quotes. It really is amazing to see so many inspirational words in one place. Thanks!
Peace,
Darren L Carter
Darren L Carter´s last blog ..Why You Should Jump Off A Cliff…
Hi Darren,
Welcome! I’m happy to have you hear from my weekly article from TheInfoPreneur.
I’m very glad that you were inspired by the various quotes and pictures that I chose.
Thanks for your comment,
Karen
Once you’ve chosen your values, live them visibly every day at work and at home. Living your values is one of the most powerful tools available to you to help you be the person you want to be, to help you accomplish your goals and dreams, and to help you lead and influence others. This may necessitate changes in the way that you approach things and how you view things that happen in your life. Don’t be afraid of making that change to fulfill meeting your personal values; this is part of our life’s journey.
Welcome Rob,
That’s excellent advice – to keep your values in front of you so that they serve as reminders of what’s important in your life and so that you don’t get distracted.
Thanks so much for sharing your wisdom. You have some great advice to share
Karen