GHOST on Nostr: Testing… Know Your Values If you don’t know where you are going then any ...
Testing…
Know Your Values
If you don’t know where you are going then any direction is as good as another one. This is a trueism that many have applied to goal setting. But it is equally important, if not more so, to have a compass to show you true north. I am speaking of values. Not societal values or religious values but YOUR values. There may be overlap but not always and people’s values can be as different as the individuals who hold them. I urge you to spend time in self reflection and discover just what you do in fact value. Having and knowing these allows you to shape your life to what is actually important to YOU.
What is the point of achieving much or living your life if it is not aligned with your personal values and you are just miserable all the time?
Just for reference I will give my own personal values just as a example and possible jumping off point for you.
Below you will find (more or less) in order my highest values.
1. Self Respect, a sense of personal pride and value in myself.
All my other values boil down to this one. The reason achievement or personal development or even health is important to is because without them it would hurt my sense of pride and respect I have and need in myself. The need for self respect is the driving force for almost all of my actions and desires.
“Self-respect is the cornerstone of all virtue.” - John Herschel
2. Achievement, a sense of accomplishment.
Achievement is the metric by which I gain a lot of my self value. It is important to achieve and do something that was hard just for it's own sake. Doing so makes me proud of who I am, what I have accomplished, and that I am strong enough to overcome the obstacles in my life.
"I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, rather than to be false, and to incur my own abhorrence." -Frederick Douglass
3. Personal Development, striving to become better and greater and more than myself.
To gain self respect I must achieve. To achieve I must have something to achieve and strive toward. Personal development is the means to that end. The greatest obstacle man can ever overcome is himself. There is no higher achievement. I am the yard stick to myself for nothing else exists.
"There's only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that's your own self." - Aldous Huxley
4. Freedom, personal liberty, independence and autonomy.
I must be free to plot my own course. To be tied down, fretted with weights, means I cannot act and do as I wish. To be in bondage would hurt my self respect, as well as stop me from achieving what I wish. To do anything I must be free to act. Liberty above all.
5. Inner Harmony, being at peace with myself.
I must be at peace at the end of the day with my life and my actions. What good is all the achievements and deeds, and struggles if I cannot live with myself or feel at ease and comfortable in my own skin?
"The worst loneliness is to not be comfortable with yourself." -Mark Twain
6. Learning, discovering and understanding knowledge, developing wisdom.
Is there a more sublime joy than the joy of learning?
7. Responsibility, ensuring health and happiness for those in my care.
To not provide for those I feel responsibility for such as my children would wound my sense of self worth.
8. Health and Physical Fitness
Good health ensures the energy and the time I can devote to the life I want.
9. Economic Security
Man's economic welfare must be taken care of before any higher ideals can ever be realized.
10. Affection, loving and being loved.
Makes life worth living, smooths out the rough spots.
Know Your Values
If you don’t know where you are going then any direction is as good as another one. This is a trueism that many have applied to goal setting. But it is equally important, if not more so, to have a compass to show you true north. I am speaking of values. Not societal values or religious values but YOUR values. There may be overlap but not always and people’s values can be as different as the individuals who hold them. I urge you to spend time in self reflection and discover just what you do in fact value. Having and knowing these allows you to shape your life to what is actually important to YOU.
What is the point of achieving much or living your life if it is not aligned with your personal values and you are just miserable all the time?
Just for reference I will give my own personal values just as a example and possible jumping off point for you.
Below you will find (more or less) in order my highest values.
1. Self Respect, a sense of personal pride and value in myself.
All my other values boil down to this one. The reason achievement or personal development or even health is important to is because without them it would hurt my sense of pride and respect I have and need in myself. The need for self respect is the driving force for almost all of my actions and desires.
“Self-respect is the cornerstone of all virtue.” - John Herschel
2. Achievement, a sense of accomplishment.
Achievement is the metric by which I gain a lot of my self value. It is important to achieve and do something that was hard just for it's own sake. Doing so makes me proud of who I am, what I have accomplished, and that I am strong enough to overcome the obstacles in my life.
"I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, rather than to be false, and to incur my own abhorrence." -Frederick Douglass
3. Personal Development, striving to become better and greater and more than myself.
To gain self respect I must achieve. To achieve I must have something to achieve and strive toward. Personal development is the means to that end. The greatest obstacle man can ever overcome is himself. There is no higher achievement. I am the yard stick to myself for nothing else exists.
"There's only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that's your own self." - Aldous Huxley
4. Freedom, personal liberty, independence and autonomy.
I must be free to plot my own course. To be tied down, fretted with weights, means I cannot act and do as I wish. To be in bondage would hurt my self respect, as well as stop me from achieving what I wish. To do anything I must be free to act. Liberty above all.
5. Inner Harmony, being at peace with myself.
I must be at peace at the end of the day with my life and my actions. What good is all the achievements and deeds, and struggles if I cannot live with myself or feel at ease and comfortable in my own skin?
"The worst loneliness is to not be comfortable with yourself." -Mark Twain
6. Learning, discovering and understanding knowledge, developing wisdom.
Is there a more sublime joy than the joy of learning?
7. Responsibility, ensuring health and happiness for those in my care.
To not provide for those I feel responsibility for such as my children would wound my sense of self worth.
8. Health and Physical Fitness
Good health ensures the energy and the time I can devote to the life I want.
9. Economic Security
Man's economic welfare must be taken care of before any higher ideals can ever be realized.
10. Affection, loving and being loved.
Makes life worth living, smooths out the rough spots.