You’re ready to finish identifying your Values. First, based on the additional Exercises you did, do you need to make any changes to your final list of Values? Remember, your final list should have no more than 10, and ideally fewer so that you are focused on what are truly the most important Values to you.

Once you’ve got your final list, you may want to write down a brief statement of how you will know you are demonstrating that Value in your life. For example, for my Value of Family, my statement is “Connect with, help, or spend time with any member of my family.” That’s how I go beyond just the word, to how I want to act to express that Value in my life.

Like your Vision, your Values should be in writing and printed out, and you should review them daily. In the Happiful program, we do this by documenting our Values in writing as a permanent part of our Weekly Plan to make it easy to review them every day as part of our Morning Routine. (I also have them printed as the cover of a 3 ring binder that sits on my desk, so I simply can’t avoid seeing them several times a day.)

Your Vision and Values will always be a work in progress; in Happiful we intentionally review them at least once a year to update them, but you may update them at other times as your life changes and you realize you want to make changes to one or both of them.

Final Exercise:

  • Barriers to Living Your Vision: Review your Vision. Now, what specifically is actually preventing you from living that life you really want? Make a list of everything you can think of that is stopping you from living that Vision right now. Now review the “Barriers List” you just created: Circle the number one thing holding you back; the thing that if solved, would do the most to move you towards your Vision. Next to it, write down what you can do to change it and remove that Barrier. Depending on what it is, you may need to come up with several ideas to change the #1 thing, but be persistent and creative – there is always a solution! What else can you change on that Barriers List to move you closer to your ideal life? Some will have obvious answers and you can commit to making those changes; others will take more creativity and/or time to remove. But now you should have clarity on what needs to change in your life to live your Vision.

Congratulations on completing the Design Your Ideal Life course! If you have done the work in the course, you should now have a clear, compelling, and motivating Vision of your Ideal Future Life written out and available for you to review and visualize every day. And a concise list of your most important Values. The combination of your Values and Vision should indeed drive all of your decisions every day. When faced with any decision, just ask yourself if it will move you towards your Vision, and if it is in keeping with your Values.

Take actions every day that move you closer to living your Vision, and you’ll get there sooner than you think.