Issue 53: Aligning Your Goals & Values
THE LEAP
BY QUANTUM ORANGE
GROW, EXPAND & EVOLVE
ISSUE 53 | ALIGNING YOUR GOALS & VALUES
Each week The (Quantum) Leap summarises a key aspect of success into what you need to Think, Feel and Do to create a personal shift.
If we do things that are not congruent with our values, chances are we’ll achieve a whole lot and never find true, lasting happiness.
~ Paul Blackburn
THINK
Too often, people set goals based on their thinking alone. You’re much more likely to achieve your goals if they align with your feelings and values, too. It’s a great idea to examine how connected your goals and values are - that is, whether the goals you have set will help you achieve the underlying life principles that you believe are most important.
Values provide direction, keep you true to yourself and help you make decisions, so they play a very important role in setting and achieving goals. To connect your goals and values, you first need to know exactly what your values are.
Grab a blank sheet of paper and a pen and take some time out for self-reflection and self-discovery.
- What are the things that matter most to you in life?
- What are your priorities?
- What do you want to stand for?
- How do you spend your time and energy?
- What are you passionate about?
- What traits would you like to be known for when you are at your best?
- What do you need to do more of?
- What should you cut back on?
- What’s missing?
Now that you’ve got the words on paper, you can begin to move towards planning your life according to your values. Spend some time (at least a few days) considering the list of values you came up with.
- Are they really important to you?
- Are some more important than others?
- Are there too many?
- Do any of them conflict with one another?
- If they do, does one of them need to be removed from the list
- What, if any, changes do you need to make?
This list will evolve over the years as you do, so don’t consider it set in stone.
FEEL
We learn about what’s important to us, what we value, through our feelings. And feelings help us re-evaluate how we’re doing with what we value.
Often the things that fall off the list when we’re busy are the critically important ones - the things that are going to build us as a human being. We fail to meditate, to exercise, we eat unhealthy food and stay up late. In other words, we neglect ourselves physically, mentally and emotionally for the need to just get through the day and get our goals over the line.
The result is that we end up frantically busy, but not experiencing the fulfilment that reaching targets should produce. We achieve a lot, but those achievements can take away the things that are most important to us.
The negative feelings that come up can signal a conflict between our values that we must pause to consider and address. Ask yourself:
- Do you feel disconnected? Unfulfilled?
- Do you feel motivated? Inspired?
- Do you feel like you have just drifted along for some time and can’t describe what your true values are?
- Do you feel like there is a gap between how you are living and what is important to you?
- How do your emotions influence your values?
- How do your emotions influence your actions?
DO
Your habits are a reflection of what you value. Take a look at your lifestyle and evaluate whether it reflects your true values or not. Seek out the ways you contradict your values every day and embrace the difficulty of forming new habits.
The version of life planning we are generally taught (either directly or by watching our role models) is completely backwards. Our culture encourages us to get on with it, and when things get busy we are supposed to just be more energetic, put in more effort, be more enthusiastic. But the truth is most of us just run out of energy.
We need a ‘top down’ approach to life planning for us to be effective, rather than efficient. Here’s the short version, in order…
- Establish your values and use them to determine a vision for your life.
- Determine the roles you play and put them in order of importance.
- Set goals within the roles and according to the values.
- Write the goals down.
- Develop action plans or strategies to reach the goals.
- Follow the plans, knowing each day’s activities move you towards what is most important to you.
Each month, set aside time to assess how you’re progressing towards your goals, keeping a focus on your values. Decide what additional actions you’ll take, reevaluate your priorities and set new milestones as needed.
As time goes by and you change your habits, routines and behaviours to line up with your values, you will inevitably notice some major changes occurring in your life. Above all, you’ll notice an increase in self-esteem, a surety about the direction you’re headed and more security in your own beliefs.
Read. Watch. Listen.
