What is your why? And why does it matter so much?

In an ideal world, everyone would be living the life they desire. Or at least the one they think they do. For some that would be living lavishly, travelling the world with no budget restraints or commitments. For others it might be living in a decent neighbourhood, with a sizable home, a loving family and working a well-paying job that they semi-enjoy on a good day. Most people will argue that life is about moments, that we can’t possibly be content, happy and fulfilled all the time. Is that the case though?

It feels as if the world and our collective human consciousness is slowly moving away from this way of thinking and living. It’s more important now than ever, to take a step back and look at our lives with our ‘futures’ at the forefront of our minds. By asking ourselves questions like, ‘What do I value most?’, ‘What are my most important commitments and goals in order for me to honour those values?’ you start to create a compass to direct you towards what makes you tick. When you are living in line with your values, you strive. In todays ‘connected digital’ society, we search for meaning more than ever before. It’s more possible, and for some – important, to live a more purposeful and personally gratifying life than it ever before. Here are some ways to take a step towards a more fulfilling existence.

Clarify your values

According to Adam Sicinski, our values often shift over our lifetime because we’re constantly evolving. Life events happen, people come in and sometimes out of our lives and naturally this will affect some of your outlooks and notions. We can bring clarity over our values by looking back to a time in our lives when we were at our happiest and most satisfied. Sicinski advises that one should ask themselves a set of six questions, ranging from, ‘What if I only had six years to live?’ all the way from months, weeks, days, hours, down to, ‘What if I only had 6 minutes to live?’ The power in this is that these questions will surely help you outline what values stand out and hopefully help you establish whats at your core.

Establish clear goals

In order to establish clear goals for yourself, you need to first figure out exactly what it is you want to achieve at this stage of your life. If you’re unusre – look at what you are passionate about. What aspects of your life bring you the most joy – we all have that one thing that makes us feel elevated, exhilarated, that thing that gives us a feeling we can barely control, it gives us hope just thinking about it.  Use these passions as your compass, direct yourself towards what makes you feel good. Your passions will morph and change, but that’s part of the adventure. Take small steps to integrate steps into your life that bring you closer to what brings you satisfaction. This will help you develop a solid understanding of your life’s purpose. If your passion is something you can grasp then establishing goals in order to live it  should come naturally. Not without trial and error, but they will fall into place nonetheless, as long as the sheer will to bring it to life is what guides you.

‘You have to be burning with an idea, or a problem, or a wrong that you want to right. If you’re not passionate enough from the start, you’ll never stick it out.’ – Steve Jobs