I have found three ways values affect your life; relationships, career, home environment. When these areas are in alignment with your personal values, happiness comes naturally.
Since we are each unique, you may find different areas of your life play a more prominent role in your happiness. These areas may change naturally over time.
Relationships
Personal relationships run the gamut of family, friends, lovers, spouses, like-minded people (your tribe), and co-workers. Have you found yourself observing personalities? Maybe you like those that exhibit your value system more than those that don’t. Actually, this seems intuitively obvious.
Do you get along with one parent more than the other? Perhaps it is because you share values with one parent and not the other.
Then why do we end up with partners that don’t last? There are undoubtedly many reasons. For me, however, my values played a key role.
Career
A long time ago, fifty years to be exact, I took the Air Force Career Test in high school. The results suggested your best careers. It was an extensive personality test. I remember my results clearly; attorney or psychologist were high on the list.
Psychologist was understandable to me as people tended to naturally open up to me. I listened, cared, and promptly forgot whatever they said.
Conversely, attorney, didn’t appeal to me at all. I understood the research might appeal, but even at age 16, I suspected dishonesty was part of their job.
What about your current career? Are you happy, discontent, or desperately looking for a change?
Home Environment
Although I’m using home environment, any environment can be substituted here; work, transportation, workout area, even the great outdoors.
Where do you feel most comfortable? Does dust drive you crazy? Is there comfort in having many cherished items on display? Rather, do you find simplicity more pleasing? These are some of the ways your values are reflected in your environment. If you have control in your home environment, you will choose what makes you happy, that is, comfortable.
Examples
My personal values are honesty, tranquility, and purpose. If you search online for personal values, these don’t usually come up. Rather a list of 10-25 values that are sometimes hard to even understand emerge.
Here is an interesting article that lists 25 values. One of my three is on it. While the questions they ask are good, don’t get distracted quite yet.
Back to my example. Here are three ways my values show up in everyday life:
- In fifty years of driving, I have never received a speeding ticket, because my value of Honesty helps me know what the speed limit is so I don’t exceed it.
- Tranquility surrounded me in a home as I prepared to move, with essential furniture, bare walls, and bare floors.
- Life gets pretty busy for me, yet I am committed to writing this blog weekly as it partially fulfills my value of Purpose by helping you take small steps toward a life of fulfillment.
Finding Your Personal Values
While researching this blog, the destiny of my purpose brought me an incredible, free resource to help you determine your own personal values. I took the evaluation and found it to be spot on. Furthermore, you can take it many times as your life evolves.
I would love to hear your three ways values affect your life and how it evolves. Please comment below, send me an email or signup for my newsletter for a weekly opportunity to connect.
With honesty, tranquility, and purpose,
Dawn
