What Values Are Really Guiding Your Life?

Values are guiding principles and deeply held beliefs that we live our life by. They form our moral compass and help us decide what's good and right. They are formed by a variety of sources including family, school, religion, peers, media, and society. As our values are shaped in our formative years, they become ingrained in us and we live our life from them. Although it seems we are choosing to live by these values, often we are on auto-pilot and are living from others' values.

If you were to choose which values you hold today, they may be different from the ones that are running your life. For example, if your family held the value of patriotism, you might be following that ideal. However, based on the political climate of the world today, you might be in conflict with that value.

Clarifying what values you hold dearest to you will help you build a strong foundation upon which to evolve in your self-development. By determining what values you want to live by, you will remove the internal conflicts and experience a more meaningful and fulfilling life. If that goal has escaped you this far, it could be because the values guiding your life are not your own.

Here are some examples of values:

Accomplishment, Adventure, Beauty, Communication, Creativity, Discovery, Excellence, Faith, Family, Freedom, Fun, Gratitude, Honesty, Independence, Justice, Knowledge, Peace, Personal Growth, Pleasure, Power, Punctuality, Security, Self-reliance, Service, Simplicity, Tradition, Trust, Variety, and Wisdom.

When you know what you value most, you will not only be more fulfilled, but you will be clearer about your goals and be able to make decisions more easily, and have less conflict and stress. You will begin to attract the people and circumstances that reflect your values.

An effective way to determine your values is to start with a list of what is most important to you in your life. This could look like your home, car, cat, dog, family, friends, work, creative pursuits, and more. Make the list as long as necessary. Then see what value each of these represents. Come up with a list of your top five values. Next look at your life and see if you are living from these values. It's a real eye-opener to do this exercise and realize how often you are not living from your core values.

For example, I realized friendship was a high value for me, but noticed that I wasn't spending as much time with my friends as I would have liked to. Many of us get so busy, that we have to juggle a lot of roles, so it's important to see if we are living a life that satisfies our values or not. When you have a clear understanding of your unique set of values, you'll start to create a life that maximizes living from your values and reduces life roles where your values conflict.

If you have felt unfulfilled, frustrated, or dissatisfied, then do this exercise and start living a life based on your values.