How to define your values?

Values — are orienteers, which define our behavior, that is what important for us and for the sake of which we live. As we do these of that actions, being led, firstly, by our values, which directly define our wishes and actions. And if we go against them, then usually there is nothing good for us in the end. That is why it is very important for us to know our values so that to live in harmony with ourselves and take right decisions. 

In the world the majority of people share common humane values (love, health, family, harmony, freedom, etc.), but every separate person anyway has his own values. Even if he takes all common values of humanity, then anyway he would have his personnel hierarchy of these values. And this knowledge, as values, and their ranging in personnel list are very important, as life decisions depend on them, consequently the life itself does depend on them.

How to define your values?

First step

Write down all your former and present social roles. For example: husband, son, father, brother, bridegroom, uncle, teacher, journalist student, entrepreneur, cookery specialist, friend, partner, blogger, etc.

Second step

Answer the questions in a written form: what is important for you in these roles, what for you have performed/ are performing this role, what does it give to you? Doing this exercise, you would see, that written by you values of different roles repeat and add each other. It happens because there are much fewer values than roles, and exactly values destined availability of these specific roles in your life.

Third step

Write values separately. Now you have in front of you a list of what is important in life exactly for you, your orienteers and motivators. 

Fourth step

Then you need to define for yourself which values from the list are root, the main ones, it means values-goals, but not values-means, which lead only to the main ones. For example, money is value-mean, because it is not value by itself, but it leads to something, for example, to freedom, independence, harmony, wealth being, etc.

If you could move further, do it, until answers start to repeat. For example, money- is goal-mean, which leads to independence, but does independence lead you to anything (may be to freedom), or this is a goal itself? If it leads you to your freedom, then where does freedom lead? You would answer-no, freedom is freedom, it is a value by itself. Perfect, you have found your value. Do this exercise with other values, until you find the most important for you.

Fifth step

Prioritize your main values according to the level of their importance for you. You need it in order to be able to orientate in difficult situation when collision of values happen, and you need to choose only one variant. 

Now, knowing your values and their priority, you could take more conscious and correct decisions according to what is important in life exactly for you. As the result, you would be able to change your life to better, filling it with more sense and acting in accordance with your life orienteers.