Are you ready to empower your life and unlock your true potential? To achieve this you need to find ways to stick to your values.
If you had to rate yourself on how well you are living based on your true potential, what would be your score?
The big problem with unlocking your true potential is that you have no way of actually knowing what that is.
Or worse, you use some artificial and highly inflated measure based on someone else’s life. For instance, you think you should be Superman saving the world every day, the world’s greatest Mum, sing as well as Tay-Tay, play basketball like Le Bron, be as smart as Einstein and cook every meal as good as Gordon Ramsey.
Good luck with that!
Unlocking Your True Potential
To empower yourself you need to feel like you are unlocking your true potential. And the key to this is to live true to your values.
Your values are your standards, morals, ethics and the things you say are important.
Living true to your values is the best way to unlock your true potential because they’re your way – your aspirations and your way of living. For instance, being a caring mother might be enough compared to trying to be the world’s greatest mum.
The obvious starting point for unlocking your true potential is to define your values. If you haven’t done that yet, go and read this post first. And then come back to learn how to stick to your values every day.
Here are five ways you can stick to your values…
1 Create Displays
The obvious first thing that you need to stick to your values is to remember what they are. That’s kind of obvious, but if I were to ask you what your top five values are, would you be able to answer correctly? The easy way to do this is to write them down. And then put them on display so you are reminded of them often. And I’m not talking about putting up a billboard at Times Square.
This could be as simple as:
- Putting them in a picture frame for your desk or wall
- Writing them in your diary or on your schedule
- Putting them on your fridge
- Adding them to a bookmark for when you read
- Inserting a copy in your purse or wallet
- Using them as a screensaver on your phone
Have some fun with this!
2 Build The Master Habit
The key to sticking to your values is to repeat them. And that means building habits.
The master habit that you want to build to unlock your true potential is to be mindful.
Instead of just reacting to what happens in your life, being mindful is being conscious and aware of the decisions you make. In particular, you want to make decisions that align with your values.
This can be as simple as choosing ‘good’ food to eat or as big as choosing the right job.
Developing the mindfulness habit will take some practice and it’s worth the effort.
Read this post to learn how to build habits that empower you and express your values.
3 Create Expressions of Your Values
Your values have two pieces to them.
- First, you need to define what they mean to you.
- Second, you need to create expressions of them. In other words, you need to paint a picture of what it means to live true to your values.
My top value is creativity and I express this by making these videos. For you, it might mean cooking dinner each night as a way to show your love for your family. Or it could be going to bed at 10 pm every night because you value being at your best the next day.
How will you express your values in your life?
4 Design Your Ideal Day
A great way to empower your life and express your values is to design your Ideal Day.
By sitting down and designing what an Ideal Day looks like you can explore big and little ways to express your values. Plus, you can create a plan for the habits you want to build.
For instance, the big chunks in my ideal day are creating something. I plan to do this for 3-4 hours minimum every day. That’s one of my big chunks. But I also allow time for taking walks, keeping in touch with my friends and looking after my health by exercising and eating well.
Read this post for how to design your Ideal Day.
5 Review Your Day
This one is another master habit to build. And it’s much easier to do.
At the end of each day as you’re hopping into bed, review your day.
Run your mind over the things that happened and how you responded. Find 3-5 ways that you responded true to your values.
Then find one example of when you didn’t act consistent with your values. And consider what you might do differently next time.
The goal here is to reinforce your good moves and learn from your not-so-good moves.
Ask Yourself:
1 Where in my day did I act true to my values? (And how did this make you feel?)
2 Where in my day did I NOT act true to my values? And what would I do differently next time?
More Ways to Stick To Your Values
If you want to dig deeper into how to empower yourself, unlock your true potential and live true to your values then read these posts next:
