Why living by your values is the only way to live
You’ve probably heard people mention that to live a healthier, happier, more confident life you need to live by your values. But what is the benefit of this and why do people swear by it so much?
Living by your values ensures that you are making decisions and taking actions that are in line with your deepest beliefs.
When you live by your values, you are more likely to make decisions that you will be happy with in the long run, and that will lead to greater fulfillment, satisfaction, and joy. Think about all the times where you have done something only to say to yourself ‘why did I even do that’ Then sat there frustrated that you let someone else or the desire for something now steer you off your course?
This often happens because you learnt (like everyone else) what to do to be considered ‘a good person’. Even if your parents didn’t use that exact language with you they probably steered you towards what they felt was right for you, helping you to learn decisions you should make for yourself to be an upstanding citizen or well behaved person. Conditioning, as we call this, often takes us back to wanting to please others and putting ourselves on the back burner to keep the peace. It is particularly prevalent with people who had tumultuous upbringing or felt like they were always walking on eggshells around parents, teachers and other adult role models.
When you stop and define how you want to live then you put yourself as priority one and as a result your life starts happening as you would like it to. It makes you feel happy, fulfilled and excited.
Living this way also allows you to maintain your integrity and build strong relationships with those around you. Each time you communicate your values you are reminding yourself that the way you choose to live matters and that you deserve it. You are also teaching others how to interact with you and what you will accept as appropriate behaviour. Because you stay true to yourself your life feels more purposeful, freeing and full of possibilities and your mindset is often far positive to. Instead of thinking ‘life is happening to me’ you can start to see that life is happening FOR you and instead of ignoring what you want you are saying YES to yourself.
So, what are your values? What matters to you the most? Why do these things matter to you?
