Values or Priorities?
Years ago, I was a different person. I was so overly stressed that I would literally scratch myself till I bled. What I didn't know was that it was related to stress. Luckily for me, the Stress Management class was a requirement for me to take in order to graduate... and it changed my life.
Mike, the casual professor who lets you call him by his first name, started out the class talking about the physiology of stress and how we can manage our time better to reduce our stress. But the lesson that really hit home for me was on values and priorities.
So instead of telling you all about the lesson, I'm going to walk you through it so you can use it yourself!
Step 1:
Write down 30 of your values, in no particular order.
Step 2:
Write down the things you prioritize, in order. By this I mean, what do you spend the most time on? Do you spend most of your week at work? That should be the top of the list. Work your way down so that the bottom of the list reflects what you spend your most time on.
Step 3:
Take your list of values and order it from what you value most to what you value least.
Step 4:
Compare your priorities list and your ordered values list. Do they match up?
If your lists match up, that's great news! That means you're living by what you value most in life. If you value family and spend most of your time with them, then you're living in harmony with yourself and have eliminated a great deal of stress from your life as a result.
If you're like I was and your lists don't match up, that means that you're not living by what you value. If you value family but are spending all your time on work and school, then you might need to adjust. I know this is easier said than done, but you'll find yourself a lot less stressed if you cut out time to do the things you value. And less stress means you'll be more efficient when you are at work or doing homework.
It's a difficult and every-changing task to live by what you value. We all want money and to finish school (if you're a student) but it's important that we enjoy the journey that we're on. In order to do that, we all need to find some time in the week to do the things we love, whether that's family time, doing sports, hanging out with animals, or just relaxing. Whatever it is, IT IS WORTH IT.
Your life will constantly be in flux, meaning that what you value now may change over time. You may be a single student now, but in 5 years you may be graduated and married. Your priorities and your values will change as life goes on. Because of this, you'll likely need to re-create this list several times throughout your life to better understand your values and ensure that you're living by them.
I hope this helps you as much as it helped me. If you're wondering, my problem was that I valued my friends and family over school and work, yet I was spending 70 or more hours per week on the latter and the rest of the time I was sleeping. I spent very little time with friends and family and that was killing me. After learning this very simple yet difficult lesson, I was able to get my life under control and find some balance. Now, I'm mostly at peace with the way I live and am a LOT less stressed than I was back then. I still have the scars from the damage I did to myself, but I'll never let it get that bad again.
Mike, the casual professor who lets you call him by his first name, started out the class talking about the physiology of stress and how we can manage our time better to reduce our stress. But the lesson that really hit home for me was on values and priorities.
So instead of telling you all about the lesson, I'm going to walk you through it so you can use it yourself!
Step 1:
Write down 30 of your values, in no particular order.
Step 2:
Write down the things you prioritize, in order. By this I mean, what do you spend the most time on? Do you spend most of your week at work? That should be the top of the list. Work your way down so that the bottom of the list reflects what you spend your most time on.
Step 3:
Take your list of values and order it from what you value most to what you value least.
Step 4:
Compare your priorities list and your ordered values list. Do they match up?
If your lists match up, that's great news! That means you're living by what you value most in life. If you value family and spend most of your time with them, then you're living in harmony with yourself and have eliminated a great deal of stress from your life as a result.If you're like I was and your lists don't match up, that means that you're not living by what you value. If you value family but are spending all your time on work and school, then you might need to adjust. I know this is easier said than done, but you'll find yourself a lot less stressed if you cut out time to do the things you value. And less stress means you'll be more efficient when you are at work or doing homework.
It's a difficult and every-changing task to live by what you value. We all want money and to finish school (if you're a student) but it's important that we enjoy the journey that we're on. In order to do that, we all need to find some time in the week to do the things we love, whether that's family time, doing sports, hanging out with animals, or just relaxing. Whatever it is, IT IS WORTH IT.
Your life will constantly be in flux, meaning that what you value now may change over time. You may be a single student now, but in 5 years you may be graduated and married. Your priorities and your values will change as life goes on. Because of this, you'll likely need to re-create this list several times throughout your life to better understand your values and ensure that you're living by them.
I hope this helps you as much as it helped me. If you're wondering, my problem was that I valued my friends and family over school and work, yet I was spending 70 or more hours per week on the latter and the rest of the time I was sleeping. I spent very little time with friends and family and that was killing me. After learning this very simple yet difficult lesson, I was able to get my life under control and find some balance. Now, I'm mostly at peace with the way I live and am a LOT less stressed than I was back then. I still have the scars from the damage I did to myself, but I'll never let it get that bad again.
Comments
Post a Comment