Living from Your Values

In my last blog post, I wrote about how living from our values makes our lives more authentic, joyful and meaningful. But what would that look like? Is it really possible? Or practical?

Well, let’s use my values to see what this might look like. My values are:

Adventure Authenticity Creativity Freedom Integrity Respect Spirituality Transformation

How could I create a life that is a true expression of these values? Here are some options:

• Commit to experiencing a new place/restaurant/sport every month
• Participate in extreme sports such as rock climbing
• Write a blog in which I express my authenticity (hey, I already do that!)
• Take classes that express my creativity
• Create “free” days for myself, when I do whatever I feel like
• Volunteer with organizations I believe in
• Go on spiritual retreats

And taking it a step further:

• Volunteer with an organization like Mother Teresa’s orphanage in Calcutta
• Lead tours to spiritual locations or see places through spiritual eyes
• Become a minister to lead people through spiritual transformation
• Go on a trip in which I combine work and the freedom of the open road
• Coordinate a huge creative project like the creation of an AIDS quilt
• Be a coach who works with people to find their authentic voice

There are so many more examples! And they all entice and delight me because they are reflections of my values.

So, what are your values? How could you incorporate them into your life in ways that are beautiful and rewarding expressions of the best of you?

What Do You Value?

Who are you and what is most important to you? We each have a core set of values that define who we are and what we’re like when we show up at our best. When we are clear about our values, we can honour them in our lives and express them in ways that give us joy and satisfaction.

I have a list of the eight values that meant the most to me. Since I became more conscious about including them in my decisions and in my daily life, I’ve felt more peaceful and alive. It’s a work in progress to become continually more aligned with my values and the effort is always worth it.

Are you interested in defining your values and living your life from them? Here are the steps you can take:

1. Find a list of values. This is easy to do with an internet search. I’ve seen short lists and ones that have up to 247 values, lists of business values, family values, etc. Find a list that works for you. Keep in mind that in your heart, you already know your values – the list is just to tweak your memory.
2. Go through the list using your gut reactions or spiritual guidance to identify a short list of values.
3. Narrow down the list, if necessary, by deciding if you feel comfortable combining closely-related values, for example Integrity and Truth. Also, drop any that just don’t seem as important as the others.
4. Define what each means to you. Your definition may well not appear in a dictionary – it’s totally about your perspective.
5. Next, consider why the value is important to you.
6. Finally, think about how you will express each value and identify some action steps you can take. For example, I can express my value of adventure by experiencing new activities, places and things and actions may be to try a new ethnic restaurant or go sailing.

When we live our lives by expressing our most important values, we feel centred, joyful and on-purpose. Isn’t that worth taking some time to define?

Olympic Fever Comes to Canada

I’m more than a little bit sad these days because the Olympics are over.

For two weeks, I watched TV every night, inspired by the athletic heart of young people around the world. And like never before, I was inspired by the unique and infinitely lovable Canadian spirit.

In hosting the Olympics in Vancouver, Canadians stepped into the spotlight in a way we seldom have before and we let our big, wonderful enthusiasm and love for our country shine with pride and confidence and our own sense of style. Every night, they partied in the streets of Vancouver and Whistler, and Canadians across the country partied on with them.

We delighted in the gold medals but more importantly, we delighted in the special people who represented our country and came away with the top prize. Alexandre Bilodeau, the first to win a gold medal on Canadian soil (or is that snow?), was the most humble and down-to-earth guy. Joannie Richette showed unbelievable heart, skating just days after her mother passed away in Vancouver awaiting the start of the competition. Tessa Virtue and Scott Moyer demonstrated ice-dance perfection with their long program.

Oh, and there was the hockey. Both Canadian teams, men and women, won gold in the sport that is called “Canada’s game.” They were both extremely exciting games, and sources of unending pride.

I’ve always been proud to be a Canadian. And I was thrilled that Canadians from coast to coast seized the Olympics as an opportunity to revel in our greatness and express our uniqueness.