What are your values?
In other words, forget any religion, or laws, or ways of living that may have been forced upon you. If you peel all of that away, what is your idea of being a good human? And then further, if you follow those values, where does it lead you?
This is hard to see, but once you notice, you’ll start noticing over and over again – the most ethical and clear-minded people and organizations understand what matters most to them. They know their north star. As we all see – life and the world is very messy. It can be really hard and confusing to set healthy goals and not get lost. “Core Values” act like a personal compass – they are always there, helping orient us with things that matter deeply. How can a person understand what their core values are, and not lose touch with them?
I hope by now you have added mindfulness practice into your life (or are in the process of exploring this). After months of meditation, you will feel calm and clear. The more time that goes by, the more clarity will increase. Then what? How do you find purpose, and meaning, and deeply fulfilling relationships with all of the people in the world? How do you know your priorities are healthy, and your life is heading in a direction that is deeply satisfying?
In addition to meditation, it helps to seek out some of the best ideas in human history for living a good life. This is is one of the greatest starting points I’ve ever found:
Key Teachers and Resources
1) Dr. Scott Barry Kaufman, PhD, Author, Cognitive Scientist
- Podcast Episode:
A Good Life
(Listening to this podcast is free. This alone is helpful. You will hear all about the book below and the ideas in it, in case you want to go deeper.) - Book:
Transcend
(The “hierarchy of needs”, attributed to 1960’s psychologist Abraham Maslow, is a famous model of how one should live a good life. In this book, Scott Barry Kaufman reveals more depth to Maslow’s ideas than this famous hierarchy suggests.)
Explore Next:
Need Help?
If you have any questions please post them on any article – I’ll follow up quickly – usually the same day. Happy to brainstorm and would love to hear about your challenges and journey.
2 responses to “Define Values and Purpose”
What do you think of Jesus, losing your soul for his sake and finding it.
Hi Jaap. I respect how certain ideas can lead people to be good towards other people as well as themselves. I also believe these insights can be discovered in a personal way, which is what happened to me. Then one can carry them around like a compass. It all seems to revolve around a golden premise: be good to self and others, and do no harm. I support anything that can lead people toward this in sight.
The closest article I can think of, somewhat related, is this one:
https://anti-rebel.org/why-buddhism-is-true/
As far as the article above goes (define values and purpose), this is more based on the psychology of values and behavior, but it is certainly related.
Hope that helps and hope you are well.
– Jay