Creating a fulfilling life, one that we can enjoy and one that has purpose, is so important for emotional wellbeing. We can best do this by formulating clear intentions and committed actions based on our values (Olerud & Wilson, 2002) – See the Valued Living Worksheet.
Perhaps you dedicate much time and effort to each of the components of your life that you value, or perhaps you have lost the balance between that which you value and the effort you dedicate to that component is. The exercise below should enable you to think exercise about ways to make life feel more fulfilling based on what you think is important.
First, using the Valued Living Questionnaire, identify the components of your life that you rated as having a high ideal importance and a lower actual effort. This will help you to identify where you have work to do. Fill in the names of those life components onto the Committed Action Worksheet below. For each valued component identify one intention that you can have that will help you move toward building a more fulfilling life.
Finally identify one or two specific actions you are willing to commit to doing that will move you toward that intention, note when you will begin to take action – make it a little bit detailed and specific.
Creating a life that you value can often help mitigate against distress when it does come up. Having a fulfilling life can give you something to look forward to, something to savour, and be grateful for, when you’re doing something that you don’t like. It can give us strength and purpose which will help us to withstand difficulty.
Values are like compass directions that will help us to map us a life worth living.
Committed Action Worksheet (Adapted from Olerud & Wilson, 2002)
A component of my life that I value is
My intention for this component is
The committed actions that I’m willing to take include the following:
A component of my life that I value is
My intention for this component is
The committed actions that I’m willing to take include the following:
A component of my life that I value is
My intention for this component is
The committed actions that I’m willing to take include the following: