Getting things done!

Why Do Values Matter? Values are priorities that tell you how to spend your time, right here, right now.

There are two reasons that priorities are important for our lives: FIRST REASON: Time is our most limited resource; time does not renew itself.

Once we spend a day, it’s gone forever and that time lost is permanent. If we all had infinite

time, then values and priorities would be irrelevant. But at least here on earth, we appear to be mortal with limited life spans, and if we value our lives, then it’s logical to invest them as best we can. SECOND REASON: Human beings tend to be inconsistent in how we invest our time and energy. If we don’t consciously use our priorities to stick to a clear and consistent course, we’ll naturally drift off course and shift all over the place which will yield poor results.

Imagine an airplane that went wherever the wind took it – who knows where it would eventually land? And the flight itself would likely be stressful and uncertain. For a more human example, everyone is in a different state of health right now, and everyone has a different ideal for their “best” possible health.

You’re free to decide what “best” means to you. So, the course each person takes from their starting point to their own best state of health will be unique. Because of these individual differences, some of your “planes” will be much farther from their airports than others. If you want to weigh 150 pounds and you currently weigh 155, this plane is within sight of its airport and is approaching the runway. If you want to become a millionaire and you’re flat broke with a low income, that plane is much further away. You must prioritize which planes are most important to you keeping in mind that our time is limited. Realize that the closer you get each plane to its airport, the better that area of your life will be. So the question to ask ourselves is: What is truly important to me in life?

Brainstorm a list of your values as you answer to this question using single word responses.

I’ve put together an extensive list of values you can use to help build your own list. For example: · Love · Health · Wealth · Comfort · Fun · Happiness · Success · Learning · Peace · Intimacy · Adventure · Security Try to keep your list a reasonable length, combining any two similar values such as “achievement/accomplishment” if necessary. The next step is to prioritize your list. This is usually the most time consuming and difficult step because it requires some intense thinking.

You may begin by asking yourself these questions:

Which of these values is truly the most important to me in life? So, let’s say we’ve sorted our list above, and we’ve come up with this: · Peace · Love · Intimacy · Security · Comfort · Happiness · Fun · Health · Learning · Adventure · Wealth · Success

By looking at this person’s list of values, one can assume that he or she will never put his or her career or success above his or her family. On the other hand, let’s say this person prioritized her values in the exact opposite order: · Success · Wealth · Adventure · Learning · Health · Fun · Happiness · Comfort · Security · Intimacy · Love · Peace Based off this list, we find someone who is very career-oriented, perhaps an entrepreneur. This person’s success is their number one priority which will cause them to choose his or her career first over family. If you know that what is truly most important to you in life is to experience inner peace, then it will be easier for you to say no to things that take you away from peace.