Aligning Your Work and Life Values
Tuesday of Well-Being in Law Week is focused on “Spiritual Well-Being” which encourages us to develop a sense of meaningfulness and purpose in all aspects of our lives by aligning life and work to serve our values.
Why focus on meaning and purpose? Living a life of meaning and purpose is good for your health. It can build resilience, allowing for more effective management of stress. It can help head off chronic stress and resulting burnout fueled by disconnect between your values and your work. And it can improve your daily life and the lives of those you impact.
What is alignment? Alignment is a catchy way to refer to what is frequently called balance. Alignment means an arrangement into correct or appropriate relative positions, while balance means being in appropriate proportions. Neither imposes any particular arrangement or proportion; and both invite introspection on how our life activities and our realities in these two major spheres of our lives help us carry out our values.
How are values related to meaning and purpose? We find meaning and define our purpose in activities that are consistent with our values. Meaning is finding emotional significance in what we do and can be found in overcoming difficulties, being challenged, managing relationships with others for example. Purpose is the reason you do what you do. What you do should serve your purposes. Your values inform both.
How to bring it together? Take some time out to think about how your values, purpose, and meaning are reflected in your work and other spheres of your life:
- What values do you hold dear? How do your life activities reflect your values?
- What are your life’s purposes? What do you hope to accomplish or bring to the world? How do your life activities serve these purposes?
- What life activities give your life meaning? Which do not?
You’re now one step closer to aligning your values and finding increasing meaning and purpose in your life. LCL is here to help you take the next steps in your well-being journey.