Directing your life for a more fulfilling and value-oriented existence
In this article you will learn how to identify what you value in life so you can act in alignment with what you know is important.
In our day-to-day life we get easily distracted in different ways or more precisely, in layers. We get input from people around us about how things should be or what you should and shouldn't do. We also get distracted from our thoughts and emotions in our mind. Nowadays, in this information society, answers to our questions are just one web-search away. We are bombarded with information from our smartphones, which we have a really hard time not fixing our gaze at. Our minds are always looking for solutions to our problems and we act on the information that we think is good for us. Let us not forget that we also have emotions to deal with, which affects our day-to-day decisions. All these factors affects our decisions, and in the long-term, our direction in life and ultimately our contribution in life.
Calm down, start intentional and focused reflections on your core values
In order to have an honest reflection about what you find is important to you, a firm and clear intention have to be made to actually start an exploration (by asking questions and feeling). This requires a distraction-free mind and environment. Put away anything that is distracting you from calming down and focusing at the moment. We need to calm down our mind but also increase the focus (concentration) so we can clearly ask questions and find our core values.
Having done that, one can start asking questions and not look for answers directly. Let the questions sort of ferment in you by leaving an impression in your mind and body. Be very attentive of your experiences in the mind and body. After a while, the mind or body might give you hints in forms of memories or thoughts. Be very clear of what you are experiencing, without rejection or denial, but also without clinging to the experiences. Feel in the body how it feels and feel its relevance to the question.
Be careful of the habit of believing that something is good or right/wrong for you because it can be conditioned thinking passed down from parents or someone influential. We want our experiences and conclusions/answers to be genuine. Think of the conclusions/answers to be something that you can stand behind or have a firm understanding to being important/right for you. You probably found one of your core values now. Write down what your conclusions are so you don’t forget them. In order to not forget and solidify your core values, you have to take actions with these values as the backbone of your decisions in life. If you find that your core values changes over time, then you have to repeat the process again.
Useful questions to ask
Here are some questions that you can use of in order to help you find your core values:
What do I find is important for me in life?
Is that really true to me?
What did I do when I felt the happiest?
What did I do when I felt the most fulfilled?
What did I do when I felt the most accomplished?
What did I do when I felt that time just flown by (in a good sense)?
What personal traits do I value the most?
Why? Is it really so, or are these traits preconditioned thinking?
You can also look through your life in a focused way by being very clear on what you are experiencing in the body. Let whatever you are experiencing be as it is without condemnation and maintain clarity of observation, not wanting to change or alter anything. Feel.
Enabling the possibility of a more directed life by having mental clarity and focus
By mental clarity and focus/concentration, I mean the ability to know (clearly observe) what is experienced and maintain this focus on the experience as long as it persists. It might seem a little farfetched how this ability maintained can help us in our day-to-day life. This ability is important because it enables us to maintain a stable mind and direct our focus to what is important to us. It also enables us a more honest exploration of our experiences and help us find our true core values. Having our core values determined, life can become more directed and you can more easily prioritize what is important for you and let go of other things that you know are not as important. Having a stable mind also helps you towards your goals because you can more easily determine with higher degree of certainty what is required of you by yourself and not get affected and distracted by opinions of other people. This means you are living your life and not someone else’s life.
Building foundational understanding for a more adaptable and creative life
In my experience, having good foundational knowledge (in whatever field or practice you are interested in doing), but also having good understanding of your abilities, strengths and weaknesses, is a good enabler of a more creative lifestyle. But having a clear and focused mind is a core-ability for deeper understanding. By understanding the core in whatever you are pursuing, you can create something that has a solid foundation for creative output. Let’s take a very concrete example: I practice Kungfu in my free time. I have in fact practiced martial arts for around a decade. It is very clear to me that having a solid foundational and practical knowledge in how the basic stances and movements are done, will enable me to perform more advanced routines that require good basics. With good basics the routine is executed well and as intended. With bad basics you might not even be able to finish the routine or it might look awkward (not executed with good form). Or, in the worst case, you might injure yourself. Having good understanding and being able to perform the movements and stances well, I can use this to create my own new routines. Having good foundational understanding along with clarity of mind will help you adapt to changes in life. By also having a direction in life and know with some degree of sureness what is important to you, it will become more clear when you are not moving in the direction of your values or goals.
Creativity or problem-solving start from simplicity and from an intention of providing value
Everything that is created and that looks complicated, starts from simplicity. Complexity cannot exist without simplicity; in fact complexity is spawned from simplicity reapplied over time with clear intentions. It is very hard to build or create anything complex directly because it will be hard for our minds to grasp its building blocks. With good foundational knowledge and starting from simplicity, it will be easier to solve your problems or finish your creative work. Simplicity enables incremental progression in your creations. Or when it comes to living life, it enables incremental improvement and moving towards your goals in life.
Nothing is yours. Give value to others with your creativity
Creativity is the fuel for value for you and others. It is sprung out from genuine actions in the mind that is expressed physically in your life. Therefore, it can be of value for you and others. We are sort of living meaningless lives, but the beauty of existence is that we can define what is meaningful for us by reflecting on our core values. These core values give us a direction in life, and with a clear and focused mind along with good foundational understanding, one can create value for oneself and others. It is important to not take ownership and attach yourself to your creations because when time comes for you to leave this place, you cannot bring anything with you. Not even your body. Therefore, it is better to give value to other people and leave something better for the next generation. Take a more active part in the evolution of mankind. What you leave behind after you is entirely up to you. Please make a very clear decision of what that is.
BCCE - Basics Core Creating and Evolution
The contents of this post are reflections on my core values and boils down to the triangle below:
The purpose triangle above helps me re-orient my decisions when there is too much noise from my surrounding, too much requirements from others. It helps me prioritize action that are in alignment with what I value the most.