For instance, you might write, “My family, being creative, helping others, being kind to animals, and learning new things. ”
You could write, “When I helped my friend Amy after her accident,” “When I won a service award at school,” and “When I fostered a litter of kittens. ” Next, examine why you felt alive while helping your friend Amy. You may have enjoyed feeling helpful, but you might also realize that you had to get creative in finding activities you could do together during her recovery, which felt exciting.
Who is at my party? What do people love about me? How have I impacted people’s lives? What have I accomplished in life? What do your answers to the previous questions say about your values?
For example, you might admire Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. for his courage, commitment to standing up for what is right, and selflessness.
What do you want to accomplish? What do you want to be in life or your career? What things do you hope to have? What do you hope to experience? How do you want to spend your time? What are your goals and aspirations?
For instance, you can use this list here: https://humwork. uchri. org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Workvaluesinventory-3. pdf
It’s okay for your values and their ranking to change over time. You’re always learning, growing, and changing, so it’s natural for some values to change.
For example, let’s say you value artistic expression. You might give yourself a 10 for artistic expression if you make art, learn about art, go to local art museums, and have a few art prints that you love. However, you might only give yourself a 1 if you have a few books about art but don’t really include it in your life.
For example, let’s say you value helping people. If you work at a local nonprofit, you might give yourself a 10 for helping people. On the other hand, if you have a job where you don’t interact directly with people, you might only give yourself a 3, which might make you feel unfulfilled.
Make a list of the values you want to incorporate into your life more. Use this list as you start to make changes to your life.
For example, you might decide that in your ideal life you’d be helping people get fit through dance. You might imagine yourself living in a big city on the coast, teaching cardio dance classes at a gym, and going to the beach with friends in your spare time. Additionally, you might decide you want to own several pets because you love animals. You can even narrow this down to your ideal week or day. What would you be doing throughout the week? Who would you be spending time with?[8] X Expert Source Guy ReichardLife Coach Expert Interview. 19 March 2020.
For instance, let’s say you want to help people in your community and do community impact projects. Careers that have these qualities might include nonprofit work, government and political jobs, social work, urban planning, and public health.
Over time, you should find that your life is more aligned with your values. This process can be slow or quick, depending on what’s comfortable for you.