Living Your Values

Turning Values Into Daily Action

Determining your values is essential to living life intentionally, something that I explored in a previous post which is linked here. Knowing your values is one thing, but actually living those values in your life is another, which is why we must apply them in our lives. Reflection may be the way we discover our values, but applying them to our lives and taking action is where intentional living begins.

So how do we bridge that gap? How do we take our values which are abstract and turn them into something concrete? Things like behaviours, choices and habits that enable us to live a life that actually feels aligned.

WHY LIVING YOUR VALUES MATTERS

It’s easy to go through life on autopilot, making decisions based on what’s expected, what’s convenient, or what everyone else is doing. You wake up, go through the motions, respond to whatever demands your attention, and end the day wondering what you actually accomplished.

This is a clear sign that you're not living intentionally, your life isn’t in line with your values. Living this way can leave you feeling devoid of meaning and purpose, like you’re scrolling through life itself without much thought or intention. Personally, I felt lost, confused and lacking direction.

Values provide direction, acting as your internal compass when you’re unsure which path to take. They create clarity, helping you let go of what doesn’t matter, those non essentials, and stop chasing someone else’s dream or lifestyle. They reduce decision fatigue because every choice becomes simple, does this align with my values? When your actions align with what you truly care about, decisions become clearer. You stop saying yes to the things that don’t matter and start protecting what does.

This doesn’t happen by accident, it requires us to apply our values and actively build a life around them, or on them depending on which way you want to look at it.

THE LIFE AUDIT

In order to bridge the gap between knowing and living our values, we need to start by finding where the gaps actually exist. To do that, we need to know how we are living our lives now and if that lifestyle was aligned to what we value.

Typical Day/Week

So start by documenting what your life looks like now on a daily basis. What does a typical day look like, where are you spending your time and energy? What time do you wake up and go to sleep? Ultimately the goal is awareness of how you live your life now, so don’t beat yourself up when you realise you spent 4, 5, 6, 7 hours on your phone.

Values Based Day/Week

Next you should design the ideal day or week that is based on your values. What does it look like? What are doing? How are you working? What work are you doing? How are you relaxing? What lifestyle are you living and how are you spending your time?

For example, if you value health, simplicity, family, and creativity, what would that look like? Maybe your ideal morning includes waking naturally, a simple breakfast, time with your kids. Your workday is focused and meaningful. Evenings are for family time, reading, or a creative project, followed by an early night.

Be specific and paint the picture of what living by your values would actually look like.

Identify the Gaps

Have the two side by side and analyse and compare, look at your current life and ask what doesn’t fit with your values, look for where there isn’t alignment between your current life and value based life.

Maybe you value slow living but find yourself rushing around, or you value creativity but haven’t touched a creative project in months. Take notes of these gaps as they are essential to change.

BEHAVIORS

Now that you can see the gap it’s time to build the bridge; you need to turn those values into actions and behaviours. To start doing that you need to understand what your values mean to you. You may value freedom, but that can mean something different to everyone. Two people can value freedom but only one might want to be a digital nomad.

Ask yourself: What does this value mean to me? What would living this value look like in practice?

Let’s say you value simplicity, what does that mean? A decluttered home? Fewer commitments? Less digital noise? Get specific.

Next ask yourself: What behaviours express this value? What would someone who lives this way do?

Knowing you value health is great, knowing you want to look like Dwayne Johnson, awesome, now you need to know Dwayne Johnsons behaviours, the actions he takes to look the way he does. Spoiler: it starts by getting up early and working out.

This will help you clarify your values, have an idea of what they look like in practice and help them become real and alive.

One Step At A Time

There is a temptation to change everything overnight, which won’t work and will end in disaster. Start small, keep it simple and aim for 1% improvement everyday, which is sustainable and manageable. Personally, I would start with the biggest misalignment in your life, what’s the biggest gap?

For me, it was burnout from trying to do too much. I simplified my morning routine, cut back on excess projects, replaced aimless TV with reading, and went to bed earlier. One change, then another, moving closer to alignment.

Build One Micro Habit

You don’t need a complete overhaul, you need one tiny behaviour that aligns with your values which will bring long term change.

If you value learning, read one page before bed. If you value presence, put your phone in another room when you get home. If you value health, do 10 push-ups when you wake up.

The idea is to make it so small you can’t fail and then once it’s established you can build on it.

A great book on this idea is Tiny Habits by BJ Fogg, which I fully recommend.

Use Values as a Daily Decision Filter

Your values give you permission to say no and clarify what deserves your time and what does not. Derek Sivers has a simple way of addressing this, “if it’s not a hell yes then it’s a no”.

This is a great starting point, but let’s add a little more to it. Before saying yes to anything, ask yourself:

• Does this align with what I value?

• Will this move me toward or away from the life I want?

• What am I saying no to by saying yes to this?

This will force you to think about your values, alignment with life and how the decision will impact that.

SUMMARY

Start with the life audit in order to understand where you are, design where you want to be, and identify the gaps. Turn your values into behaviors and then define what each means to you, identifying actions that express them.

Then bridge the gap, choose one area to focus on with the aim of improving 1% each day, building small habits that you can eventually build upon.

Values aren’t rules to follow, they’re a compass to guide you, so use that compass daily in your decision making. When you live in alignment with what truly matters, life becomes simpler, clearer, and more intentional.

It’s not about perfection but more about consistency and alignment, you're not going to get it right everyday. You’ll drift, get distracted, say yes when you should say no. That’s okay. What matters is that you notice, reflect and take action, it’s all about trial and error and seeing what works.