Just living is easy — we do it every day without even thinking about it! –  but living your most fulfilled life is not a given. In fact, it’s challenging! That’s why it’s important to clarify our values in order to live a life full of love. Love for ourselves, love for others, and love for what we do with our lives.

What Are Values?

Values drive us, motivate us and inspire us to strive continuously toward fulfillment; both individually and collectively, values are what enable progress. Values are the essential aspects that make your life fulfilling. They are not objects you want, but something necessary in life, in order for you to be true to yourself.

With a concentrated focus on clarifying what values you consider important, you have the capability to answer the sometimes troubling questions: who am I, why am I here and ultimately, what do I love?

How Do I Define My Values?

Make a list of the intangible things that are crucial in your life. (While your car or you iPod may be things you’d miss on a daily basis, we mean the things you can’t touch. These may be your friendships, your artistic ability, your volunteer work at an animal shelter, and so on.)

(1) Interview Yourself! Defining your values may seem overwhelming at first, but it all boils down to the simple question, “What is important to me?” There can be obvious answers all around you, and also some less obvious ones. Does it bother you when you see someone litter? What about when someone leaves a light on in an empty room? You may consider environmentalism or conservation values.

(2) Narrow It Down. Your first draft may be very long, so the next step is to narrow it down. (If you need help with your list, take a peek at ours!) Revisit each value you listed and identify why you listed it. What is it about this value that causes you to believe it’s one of your core values? Do you need it in your life to be happy?
Without it would life seem intolerable? If there’s any doubt, strike it out.  Repeat this process until you have a short list of four to six values clearly describing what you need for life to be meaningful and fulfilling.

(3) Create Goals  This is the step in which you turn your values, the intangible things, into actions. In choosing goals, we recommend starting small. Our organization is called Thinking About Tomorrow, not Thinking About the Future, because the best way to tackle your goals and passions is one day at a time. Have you heard the saying “Rome wasn’t built in a day?” The principle behind this statement is to take small, gradual steps toward a bigger goal. It’s OK to start small: baby steps are better than no steps at all.   Think about your values. Is there a common thread among them? Let’s say your values include volunteerism, the environment, and community. What can you do on a local level to make a contribution? You can volunteer for a beach cleanup, organize a recycling drive in your neighborhood, or even more simply, make it a point to remove every can or plastic bottle that you see and properly discard it in a recycling bin for one week.   The point is, your goals don’t have to be huge, and you don’t need to make big changes to get started. Just start with you, and your contributions will grow from there.

Some may need patience to zero in on what they love, and if you’re lucky, you’ll continue to learn where your passions lie every day. For others, they may know from childhood what they love. Whether you’re already established your values and where your passions lie, or you’re still figuring out what’s truly gratifying and important to you, our ultimate goal is for you is to go forth and do what you love.