Values in life are something that are extremely important to have in my life. A value is something that a person considers to be important to themselves.
Financial values vary from person to person. Not everybody wants the same lifestyle. Some people dream of having expensive cars, spacious homes and many possessions. Others search for the simple life, uncluttered by material goods. Our values influence the way we earn, spend, save, invest and spend money. Personal values are influenced by family and friends, by television and movies, and by what attracts us in the marketplace.
For example, you may want to go to college, yet you want to earn money to buy a new car. If you cannot afford both, you must make a choice. A goal is a preferred future condition. It is more than a hope. Goals help you to get more of what you want out of life.
They represent the ideal state to which you aspire, guiding all your actions towards this aspired state. What do you need to set goals? You need to know who you are (identity), your values, goals that you want to achieve, an action plan to achieve these goals, what motivates you, flexibility and self-discipline.
Knowing who you are will keep you focused as you set priorities and accomplish challenges in your personal and professional lives. When you engage in self-reflection, it is helpful to avoid defining yourself in terms of external trappings, others’ expectations or stereotypes. Establishing your values will help you to set goals in priority. Without values, all goals will be important, making it difficult for you to decide which should take precedence.
Goals need to be specific. They should have a defined objective and deadline that allow you to assess your progress. Goals need to be challenging but realistic. Set intermediate short-term goals that bring you closer to your ultimate goals. Keep the vision of your goals clear and compelling by using visual representations like tree diagrams and mind maps, which will allow you to create goals into organized patterns. Personal motivation and stamina help to ensure that we are on track with regards to our goal achievements.
What motivates you will depend on the consequences of your actions- that is, you will be motivated to select a particular task if it gives you more positive rewards than the other, like enhanced sense of pride and or accomplishment. Being flexible means being able to reframe our setbacks in goal achievement as challenges. It also means looking for alternatives and making them work for us.
Self-discipline is about doing what needs to be done rather than what you would like to do. To be more disciplined, you need to take responsibility for yourself managing your own life and fulfilling the goals that you have set out. Achieving goals is a constant process, never a destination in itself. Now that you have arrived at your outcome, it’s time to set another objective.
However, schedule a period of rest and allow yourself to celebrate your successes; then start on your journey again. Our goals are based on our values. Since we have a limited amount of money, we choose those things we value most. Saving part of current income to purchase a car is taking action to reach a goal. People often use money to gain security, power, freedom, love and acceptance. If taken to extreme, such motivations will produce an unbalanced lifestyle.
For example, the search for power can turn to greed which, in turn, can foster unethical behavior in the marketplace. Something like wealth or money is a goal while drive, ambition, spirituality are core values. Sometimes it is hard to define core values and separate them from goals. Goal is something to be achieved. A value takes you to that goal. Principles are a choice and ranking of values that will determine ones legacy. Values are not principles. A principle, such as gravity and honesty is cross cultural.
It doesn’t change over time. It doesn’t change because someone disagrees with it. Values do change, depending upon the individual. Some people value drugs. Some value diamonds. Some value music. Core values are those that you live by. If you value family, or money most and those values are at your core, then your life reflects those values. Someone who values truth, doesn’t lie. Someone who has money as a core value spends more time making money than with his family, for example.
When your values are in alignment with principles, you find truth. Life is clear and makes sense. If you value money more than truth and lie to get money, the personal consequences become clear soon enough. As far as we know, no human made up the principle of gravity. If we break the law of gravity, we end up injured. Gravity never takes a beating.
The same is true of truth. Break the law and you might get high blood pressure, broken relationships (not too many people like to associate with liars, even other liars!). Break the principle of love and care more for yourself and you find yourself lonely, even when you’re not alone.
But, be in alignment with principles, in your personal values and in your actions, and you’ve got all the benefits of gravity, all the joy and freedom of honesty, all the great personal relationships that come with truly loving other people and all the benefits that come with serving people.
Each individual has their own values, perceptions, goals, and beliefs. For example, does god exist? This is a set belief that I have established for myself throughout my time at this sober living and throughout my time in rehab. Does God exist is a question proposed to everyone at least once in their lives.
It is a strange topic with so many views, opinions, and debates. If asked what a person perceived God to be or the ideas that God dictates, each individual scrambles from the depth of their mind to find a definition and words to describe the feeling of God that runs through their hearts.
With that in mind, each individual’s own interpretation and feelings arise from their own personal intangible encounters of God and religion as they see it in all its entirety. God, in my heart and soul, does exist. He is a man, a soul, a creator, an all-knowing being.
He knows the answers to the questions that have no obvious answers, and explains the unexplainable . He dictates my creation and provides me with everything and everyone that is significant in my life. In my opinion, no one can sit down and debate on the existence of God. It is impossible to discuss and differentiate one’s facts as a pro or con in regard to His existence.
A person can only speak from their heart what God means to them, and how God affects their life. Although He is my creator and dictates my creation, He does not dictate my life. He has provided me with everything necessary for my existence but at the same time I control my own destiny. For example, I am allowed to make mistakes and learn from them; however, He gives me the strength to not make those same mistakes again.
Though I do base my existence on the theory that God exists, He does not control my every thought and action. My existence is based solely on Gods will and power. Then, I suppose in terms of my existence, He is my creator and the only reason I am alive is because He is my lifeline. He gives my life meaning. Without Him, myself and the people around me would not be alive. God is real to me and I have opened my mind and heart to Him.
On the other hand, if God does not exist, then my life does not have meaning, and there is no explanation as to why I am alive. If He does not exist, then I have based my life on a false theory, however, there is no definitive proof that He is real or not. My interpretation of God is solely individualistic and therefore, I can not impose my beliefs on other people. I am not certain that there is concrete evidence that God really exists.
However, I do know that He plays an important role in my life. I have my own view of who God is and what He has done for me. For some people, my opinion may not hold enough substantial evidence and whether this is true or not is not for me to decide.
Instead, I have come to an understanding that at this stage in my life, someone else may not accept my beliefs. However, I can be happy with this and move on. I can only testify to the beliefs and faith that I hold in God.
