In my last post, I explained the differences between internal and external factors as varied influences and barriers to success. Unfortunately, another setback to living according to external influences is the distance it creates between the person and their true, authentic passions and goals. Oftentimes, we go through life on autopilot, gaining successes in areas that don’t really matter and never feeling fulfilled. We forget to live according to our values, or worse yet, forgetting what our values are in the first place.
An exercise in helping to reconnect with callings is to write down your five most important values. Upon beginning this exercise myself, I was astonished at how difficult is was. It took looking up the word “values” in many areas online and reading examples of other people’s values before I could even begin to put anything on paper. This is a sad reality that too many of us face. Once I began to write, however, the values that I had buried came flooding back, and I easily finished the task. I urge you to create your own values list, allowing for as much detail as possible. But that is not the end of the assignment. The hard part is remembering to live by them everyday, and to make decisions that reflect them. Here are my most important values with their explanations. Maybe they will inspire you to pull out the keyboard and write your own.
Diverse Learning and Experiences
I believe that it is vital to learn and experience as much as possible in order to live a full life. I believe that allowing myself to experience varied culture, music, history, art and travel has created a sense of fulfillment for me, and has served to broaden my knowledge base and decision-making ability. I really make an effort to keep abreast of various classes and events within our community, and try to go to as many as I can. I do not judge anything in advance, or exclude it because I don’t think I would be interested. I also try to keep this perspective in my professional life as well. I have taken many diverse jobs throughout my professional life. I do not see this as a negative characteristic, regardless of the number of jobs on my resume. I feel that we as individuals cannot truly discover our interests and passions until we have experienced different realms of personal and professional activities, and I will continue to explore these throughout my life.
Creative Expression
It is important to me to be creative in everyday life. I believe that as we grow older, we forget how to be creative; to solve problems creatively, handle daily tasks creatively, or attempt any creative expression whatsoever. As a former pre-kindergarten teacher, I enjoyed watching my students complete projects with joy in their hearts, not worrying about what others thought or what the “right” answer was. I think it is important to attempt to maintain some of that childlike creativity throughout adulthood. When possible, I seek out opportunities to be creative; I will go paint pottery or pursue a creative home improvement project. When these options are not possible, I will try to solve lackluster problems in creative ways.
Animal Advocacy
I strongly believe in acting as a voice for those who cannot speak for themselves. I have always thought of animals as a source of happiness and inspiration, and as such, I feel the need to give back by helping them in whatever way I can. I specifically focus on dogs; I volunteer at the Nevada Humane Society and I attend and donate what I can at just about every dog-related event in town. I am also the author of an animal-related blog in which I inform the public about animal-related issues, including the consequences of purchasing dogs from puppy mills, the importance of spaying and neutering, and other animal welfare issues.
Freedom and Autonomy
One of the reasons I am pursuing my MBA is to prepare me to be successfully employed in a leadership role at some point in the future. Because I value animal advocacy and diverse learning as stated above, the connections and success which will come from a leadership role within a company will expand the scope in which I will be able to pursue these avenues. For me, being well-rounded and fulfilled means being able to not only work diligently at my chosen profession, but to be fortunate enough to work on other important areas of life; to be diverse in my pursuits. I believe that by making a good living for myself, I will be able to actively pursue other outlets that I value in order to live a rewarding life.
Health and Wellness
I also believe that both physical and mental health are key components of living well. Of course, day-to-day issues often keep people from concentrating on these aspects of their lives, but I try to keep these issues in the forefront of my mind because I value them, even if I don’t practice them diligently. With the general stressors of adulthood, I find it very important to ensure that I take time each day to do what I can to increase my general well-being. Taking a long walk with my dog helps me focus and increase my mental clarity, and helps increase my overall happiness level. Sitting down and having a nice meal instead of grabbing whatever is quick also helps me balance anxiety and stress, and helps me center myself on often frantic, stressful days. I also try to make time to either journal or blog, so that I can get my thoughts onto paper and analyze them, rather than suppressing them in favor of external stressors and tasks.