What Do You Value?
I used to spend my life trying to figure out what my purpose was – trying to figure out what life is all about. Am I supposed to do something significant? There are lots of things that I care passionately about should I be standing up and fighting for a cause? I’ll be honest I felt like I wouldn’t be fulfilled until I found my one true purpose.
It was around 3 years ago that I was introduced to the idea of core values, values that make up who I am. They aren’t things that other people can bestow upon me, they aren’t things that I ‘should’ care about, they just are. We all have values they are all pretty similar to be honest. We all want to belong and yet experience a certain level of freedom, we all like certainty and yet value variety, we value love, connection, to be seen and heard.
The difference is we each prioritise our values based on where we are in life and our experiences.
Once I discovered my core values I also learnt that I had a new purpose - to bring my values to life – to live them – to be wholly me.
My values act as guide to me. When something doesn’t feel quite right I look to see which one is missing or in need of attention and think about how I can bring more of it. I can apply this to all kinds of decisions large and small.
When I first planned my Motorhome adventure (obviously fulfilling on my freedom value) I had this niggle that wouldn’t go away. It had a physical sensation, a tightness just under my rib cage – maybe a little like the feeling I get when I’m scared. It turns out that I was actually pretty anxious about being alone because one of my other core values is connection. I sat out and planned in which months I planned to visit friends and family with a least one visit per month for the whole year and guess what? The feeling went away!
Feelings are our guides to let us know when something isn’t quite right and from my experience it usually links back to one of my core values.
So what the heck does this have to do with money? Well if you are going to start to prioritise your values, to start living a life that really lights you up and ticks all the values boxes you’re going to need to have some funds set aside for those values. That’s what I’ve done and it’s what I want to teach you too!
Week 2 of the Finding Your Balance program focuses on values and how they shape your finances. Find out more about the program and have a no-obligation chat here!
Hi there I’m Gail Bainbridge - money coach and mentor. I am on a mission to transform our relationships with money. I teach people to find money that they didn’t know they had for the things that are important to them. If you enjoyed this blog sign up to my newsletter to be the first to read all my money musings.