The price of happiness

What is happiness and fulfillment anyway?

Fullfilllment is living a life that is aligned with your values every day. It’s making choices that fit with what is truly important to you. It’s so much more than goal setting. The idea is that you don’t have to wait until you have achieved every goal on your list to feel fulfilled. You can have it right now.

Before we can even go there, do you even know what your values are?  I like to think of values as your internal compass. They are those things you consult with before you make any decisions and the guidepost to your best life. It’s crucial to get clear on what they are, so you know where you stand today and where you want to be tomorrow.

Despair, sadness and feelings of disconnect are all symptoms that something you are doing or not doing is stepping on one of your values. Can you think of an area in your life right now where you are feeling some kind of disconnect ? Chances are that something that is very important to you is being compromised.

This week I gave workshop on living your personal values. One of the participants raised her hand and asked me if the goal is to have all of you values rated at a 10 all the time. My answer was no. I don’t think it’s possible. There has to be a give and take. That’s why it’s important to look at your life from a metaview or the big picture. Just because you are living your values doesn’t mean it’s always going to feel easy or good.  I’ll use myself as an example. Being an entrepreneur is hard. There is no way around it. AND it’s the most fullfilled I’ve ever been.

Here is a little exercise to get you thinking about what happiness and fulfillment might look like to you:

Think of a time when you felt like you were on top of the world…..

What were you doing? Who were you with ? Why were you on top of the world?

These are what we call peak life experiences, where you feel ALIVE.

Now, what can you do in your life right now to create more moments like this? What little shifts and changes can you make to have more of  these peak experiences ?

Here is the thing about living a fulfilled and purpose filled life, its not always easy. Living a fulfilled life means doing the things that scare you. The things that you want to do but are afraid of. There will be days you will want to give up because it is too hard. If you want a fulfilled life be prepared to question yourself all the time. It will bring all your deepest insecurities to the surface. Because, right before we do something that we DEEPLY want, our self-sabotaging voices will come out swinging, trying to keep us at status-quo. My job as a coach is to support you in living a life in line with your values, working towards your purpose and holding you bigger than you hold yourself.