Why is it important to know the VALUES that guide your life?
When we define what our VALUES are, they become a "guidepost" for how we live our life, make decisions, and treat others.
I wanted to share a great acrostic that I learned many years ago from Ron Jensen in his book, "Achieving Authentic Success".
VALUES Acrostic that helps you review and internalize right principles:
V=Verify Know what you believe.
A=Articulate Know how to express what you believe and why it is important.
L=Learn Take opportunities to learn good values.
U=Unpack Live your beliefs through proper actions.
E=Evaluate Review how well you are doing in light of your beliefs.
S=Share Be open to tell others what you believe and why you believe it to be true.
With a defined approach, you will have a filter for responding when the going gets tough or when you are faced with an important decision. Once you have added your statements to this acrostic track your progress in a daily journal. Celebrate your successes and give attention when you do not respond the way that you wanted to.
If you fail, write it down. Think about another way you could have responded. Ask God to show you a better way to respond as He promises to give you wisdom if you ask Him. Find encouraging scriptures or motivational quotes that inspire you and help you to remember what your desired response is to live it out successfully the next time. Keep practicing until it becomes second nature. Over time you will experience success in living out your VALUES on a daily basis in both good and in difficult circumstances.
My sweet mother used to say, "practice makes perfect".
It's true. Practice this and you will grow in your ability to live by the guiding principles that are important to you with amazing results in what you do and how you do it.
Take some time this week to think about your VALUES. Write them down and see where you can integrate them to your weekly calendar. Write in your journal times when you live them out, times when you don’t and continue to keep notes on what you could have done differently. Before you know it, you will be mastering the art of living out your values in each area of your life!
You've God this!!
