Building Your Boat & Living to Your Values

Like a boat that carries and support you on your voyage, your values are foundational to your life journey. You have to think carefully about what type of vessel you want to travel in, what it’s made of, and how it’s constructed.

Values can be defined as “a person’s principles or standards of behavior” or “one’s judgment of what’s important in life.” Values can refer to broad range of things, including but not limited to ethical/moral values, ideological (religious, political) values, social values, and aesthetic values. Personal values provide an internal compass for what’s good, beneficial, important, useful, beautiful, desirable, and constructive in one’s life.

Identifying and investigating your values is a challenging yet important task that has 2 core functions:

Awareness – Your personal values are a core part of your identity. Bringing awareness to them deepens your understanding of yourself and how you fit into the wider world. You’ve likely learned your values from individuals and groups of people with whom you identify.
Action – This awareness gives you the self-knowledge to make decisions that align with your values and thus actualize your values which is key to living a fulfilled and purposeful life.