Tag Archives: LivingYourBestLife

Your Personal Vision Can Help You Lead The Life You Were Meant to Live

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Many people go a lifetime without being fulfilled because they get caught in their day-to-day responsibilities and don’t examine what is truly important to them.  Imagine getting to the end of a long life and then being disappointed you didn’t do more.  Building a personal vision can be the north star for the life you want to create for yourself.  Now that the country is experiencing a slowdown, you have the opportunity to spend some time thinking about your personal vision and creating the life you want.

 

Oprah’s vision

Some of the most successful people in the world have a vision and let it be the beacon when they make decisions in their life.  Oprah Winfrey had a vision of her work representing a force for good.  She was able to realize her vision through her own show.  Around 1990, Oprah changed the direction of her show to be in line with her vision—to represent a force for good. She wouldn’t accept show concepts that didn’t have that intention.  Once she started down this path, her shows became more meaningful and fulfilling for her.  She was able to fill that vision and move on to a broader one of helping people connect to ideas that inspire and magnify their vision of who they can be. (Now, I don’t know Oprah personally, but she’s been clear this is her guiding principle.)

 

Creating your own personal vision

Let me start out by saying that you will not be creating your personal vision in one day.  It takes time to reflect and think of the possibilities and beyond.  Dare to dream and dream big.  Pushing all other concerns aside, think about what would give you amazing satisfaction and joy as you were achieving it and a tremendous sense of accomplishment once you reached your aspirations.  Think beyond your wildest dreams.

 

Questions to ask yourself

  • What brings me joy?
  • What are my values)?
  • After I leave this world, what aspects of my life do I want people to talk about?
  • What do I wish for this world?
  • What can I contribute?
  • What is unique about me? (Everyone has a uniqueness that makes them special.)
  • In what parts of my life do I need to grow?

 

Begin writing

Consider the above questions and write down your answers.  Ponder them.  Make changes to accurately reflect what is in your heart and what resonates with you.  If you’ve never taken the time to identify your values, read my blog on how to define them.  Values are beliefs and principles most important to us, what motivates us and guides decisions we make.  Don’t rush to define your values.  Take the time to get them right.  You will be using them throughout your life on a day-to-day basis and to help you make major decisions about what feels and is right for you.

Once you feel good about your values and answers to the above questions, start writing your vision statement.  For example, my vision statement is to have all people experience their personal purpose in peace and balance with the ability to learn and reflect knowing that there is a higher being.

Write in the first person about what is most important to you, what you want to be, do and feel.  Make sure you incorporate your values like I did above.  Again, don’t worry about it being perfect. You will fine tune it.  I tweaked my vision to have more of an impact on society when I realized I could do and be more than I was.  Our values and vision evolve over time because of our experiences and opportunities.

 

Use your vision every day

Now that you have your vision, use it to guide how you live your life daily.  In my case, one question I ask daily is how my life can be more peaceful and in better balance.  Consider your vision statement when you’re making decisions on how you will volunteer in your community.  When you get a new job offer, make sure that it sits right with your vision.  Does it enable you to live out what is important?  If not, no matter how much money you may be offered you won’t likely be happy.  Your vision can help you live a happy and fulfilled life.

Most importantly, keep your vision and your values within view every day to remind yourself when you’re off track.

If you have questions you would like me to answer, contact me.

Susan O’Connor is owner of Paradise Workplace Solutions and coaches clients on communication and balancing their personal values and passions with their business goals.

Your Values Fuel Your Best Life

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When in your life has your heart sung from joy?  Can you remember the circumstances?  Likely, your core values were aligned with whatever you were doing at that specific time.  Unfortunately, most people haven’t spent time concentrating on their personal values.  It’s not to say that we aren’t aware of the values (family, religious and societal) we were taught.  Those values can be very different from the core ones we become more aware of when provided the opportunity to examine what is important and why.  Let’s talk about the different values we hold and why.

 

Types of values

The definition Merriam Webster uses to define values is “something (such as a principle or quality) intrinsically desirable”.  To be more precise, values are beliefs or philosophies that are important to how we live and work.  Our values can drive our actions and decisions.

There are three categories of values every person is exposed to—superficial, chosen and core.

  1. Superficial values are those values we think we should live by because someone taught them to us. These are values that we have not challenged. For example, values a parent may have passed on like giving to others is more important than taking care of yourself.  Many people spend most of their lives trying to take care of everyone else and end up disillusioned and unhappy because they thought taking care of others was more of a priority to caring for themselves.
  2. Chosen values are those that we select to uphold as consistently as possible. An example could be a Catholic going to church every Sunday or honoring the Sabbath if you’re Jewish.  You may be disappointed in yourself for not celebrating your faith but you probably won’t be greatly dissatisfied if you miss a week.
  3. Core values are those on which we hold and base our lives. We know we’re living within our core values when we’re happy and satisfied with what we’re doing and the decisions we’ve made. We are dissatisfied, reluctant or embarrassed when we are not living them consistently.  For example, if a person’s core value is teaching and he/she is not in a position to teach, he/she will likely feel disconnected or unhappy unless the need to teach can be fulfilled in other areas of life.

For years, I believed I knew my values.  I was a family person, a hard worker, caring friend.  I believed in being “good” and respectful, taking care of others.  Some of these values ended up being superficial, ones that I took on but didn’t bring me satisfaction.  I felt overwhelmed at times because I was taking care of others and ignoring my needs.  It was when I was dissatisfied that I was not living within the core values important to me.

 

What you can do today to clarify your values

Write down your values as you believe them to be.  Examine why they are important to you.  Are they central to your happiness?

When I took a deep look at my values I realized there were a few that I had not been actively engaging with when I was making decisions.  For many years, I had not been considering my spirituality in my decisions.  This left me feeling adrift as if I didn’t have anything to anchor me.  Once I was able to define what spirituality meant to me I was able to make decisions more easily and quickly.

If you’re not sure where to start in examining your values, Google “Defining Your Values”.  There are many resources available to help you.  Here’s one link from Wikihow that is a good place to start.  https://www.wikihow.com/Define-Your-Personal-Values  Don’t be discouraged by the time it takes to uncover your values.  You will need to spend enough time thinking through where they come from and what purpose they serve you and if they will continue to help you make good decisions.

 

Living a values-based life

I’m much clearer on what I want, what I do and how I’ll go about achieving my goals and making decisions now that I’ve clarified my values.  This past year one of my values came to life through starting Paradise Workplace Solutions.  Learning is critical to my happiness.  But it wasn’t until I was in a situation where I needed to gain knowledge as business owner that I realized the full energy and passion that was driving me to make this business successful. My heart sings every day because I’m working on my business and learning along the way.

Identifying your core values and living them out is what will make your heart sing, your life fulfilled and guide you to your true purpose.

Susan O’Connor is CEO of Paradise Workplace Solutions and coaches clients to connect their personal values and passions to their business goals.