{"id":90089,"date":"2023-01-20T14:28:00","date_gmt":"2023-01-20T18:28:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=90089"},"modified":"2023-01-27T12:00:47","modified_gmt":"2023-01-27T16:00:47","slug":"how-to-live-by-your-values","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-live-by-your-values\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Live by Your Values &#038; Pursue Meaningful Desires"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Want to know how to live by your values? Why is it so important? What are some strategies that can help you?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Luke Burgis&#8217;s book <em>Wanting<\/em> explains how &#8220;mimetic desire&#8221;\u2014imitating what other people want or have\u2014impacts our ability to live according to our values. He argues that increasing your awareness of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-is-mimetic-desire\/\">mimetic desire<\/a> will empower you to pursue life\u2019s most meaningful desires and live by your values.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Read on to learn more about how to live by your values, according to Burgis&#8217;s theory. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-living-by-your-values\">Living by Your Values<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Once you\u2019ve clarified your values in life, your next step is to <strong>ensure those values inform your decisions<\/strong>, says Luke Burgis. In his book <em>Wanting<\/em>, Burgis acknowledges that this is easier said than done: We often find ourselves in situations where we must choose among competing desires or values. For instance, after retiring from your full-time job, you may be unsure whether to pursue your desire to travel abroad by yourself or pursue your desire to spend more time with family. In this article, we&#8217;ll explain how to deal with such dilemmas and live by your values, based on the advice found in Burgis&#8217;s book. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to Prioritize Your Values<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>To ensure you prioritize the most meaningful values in these situations, Burgis claims that you should <strong>rank them.<\/strong> He defines a value as something important to you that shapes your specific desires. For instance, valuing ambition may shape your specific desire of taking on a challenging project. When you\u2019re deciding among competing desires, refer to your ranked values and determine which desire aligns with your highest-ranking value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, imagine you\u2019re a novelist who values both honesty and ambition, but you rank honesty slightly above ambition because you\u2019d never want to lie to boost your career. One day, your ranking is put to the test when your friend makes a comment about a fascinating idea for a novel. Your ambition tempts you to turn this idea into a book. This desire puts your value of ambition in conflict with your value of honesty because the book idea was your <em>friend\u2019s<\/em>, not <em>yours<\/em>. Because honesty ranks higher in your list of values, you decide that, to live by your values, you should let this novel idea go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(Shortform note: It may feel difficult to come up with your list of values to inform how you prioritize meaningful challenges. Consider reviewing a list of personal values, identifying your top five values, and ranking those five values. For instance, James Clear, author of <a href=\"https:\/\/shortform.com\/app\/book\/atomic-habits\/1-page-summary\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>Atomic Habits<\/em><\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/jamesclear.com\/core-values\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">provides a list of 50 values<\/a>, such as \u201ccreativity,\u201d \u201cjustice\u201d and \u201cwealth.\u201d)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-support-others-in-pursuing-their-values\">Support Others in Pursuing Their Values<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Finally, Burgis claims<strong> that we have a responsibility<em> <\/em>to support <em>others<\/em> in living by their values.<\/strong> Because desire is mimetic, we can\u2019t avoid influencing others\u2014therefore, we must ensure our influence on others is <em>positive<\/em>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(Shortform note: In <a href=\"https:\/\/shortform.com\/app\/book\/the-courage-to-be-disliked\/1-page-summary\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>The Courage to Be Disliked<\/em><\/a>, Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga argue that supporting others\u2014specifically, being <em>useful <\/em>to them\u2014is the number one way to ensure you continue to live by your values and lead a happy life. They explain that <a href=\"https:\/\/shortform.com\/app\/book\/the-courage-to-be-disliked\/1-page-summary#happy-people-aim-to-help-others\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">happy people derive long-term satisfaction from contributing to others\u2019 happiness<\/a>. Therefore, supporting others to pursue meaningful desires and live according to their values could even be one of your <em>own<\/em> values.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to Burgis, you can achieve this by <strong>sharing stories about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/defining-moments-in-life\/\">meaningful moments<\/a> in your life. <\/strong>A meaningful moment is a time in your life when you successfully took an action that got you closer to fulfilling one of your meaningful desires. When others hear you share about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/living-by-your-values\/\">living by your values<\/a> and how your efforts had positive benefits, mimetic desire will inspire them to chase their own meaningful desires.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, imagine you\u2019re a therapist, and a therapist-in-training has been hired to your team. Once you know each other, share with them about a meaningful moment from work, such as a time you supported one of your patients by empathizing with them about trauma you both share. Tell your colleague that this moment connects to your desire to live by your values by building <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/authenticity-in-relationships\/\">authentic relationships<\/a> with your clients. Hearing this story may inspire your colleague to adopt this same value or come up with a related value of their own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(Shortform note: There may be moments when you\u2019re reluctant to share your personal story with another\u2014for instance, when you\u2019re early in a relationship with someone (such as a coworker) or when you want to maintain professional boundaries. In these situations, consider supporting others to pursue meaningful desires by <strong>sharing <em>other<\/em> people\u2019s inspiring stories about meaningful moments. <\/strong>For instance, you could recommend a book in which the author reflects on meaningful moments or recommend an inspiring interview. Organizations such as <a href=\"https:\/\/storycorps.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Storycorps<\/a> provide easy access to brief, memorable stories of meaningful moments that you could recommend to others.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Want to know how to live by your values? Why is it so important? What are some strategies that can help you? Luke Burgis&#8217;s book Wanting explains how &#8220;mimetic desire&#8221;\u2014imitating what other people want or have\u2014impacts our ability to live according to our values. He argues that increasing your awareness of mimetic desire will empower you to pursue life\u2019s most meaningful desires and live by your values. Read on to learn more about how to live by your values, according to Burgis&#8217;s theory.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":86297,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,42,43],"tags":[878],"class_list":["post-90089","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","category-motivation","category-self-improvement","tag-wanting","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How to Live by Your Values &amp; Pursue Meaningful Desires - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"How can you live by your values? 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Learn Burgis&#039;s advice for prioritizing and pursuing meaningful desires and why helping others is important.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-live-by-your-values\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shortform Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-01-20T18:28:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-01-27T16:00:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/woman-thinking-smiling-looking-up.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Emily Kitazawa\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Emily Kitazawa\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-live-by-your-values\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-live-by-your-values\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Emily Kitazawa\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/e094024454c7d3334a149c0cf039bdeb\"},\"headline\":\"How to Live by Your Values &#038; Pursue Meaningful Desires\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-01-20T18:28:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-01-27T16:00:47+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-live-by-your-values\/\"},\"wordCount\":832,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-live-by-your-values\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/woman-thinking-smiling-looking-up.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Wanting\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Lifestyle\",\"Motivation\",\"Self-Improvement\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-live-by-your-values\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-live-by-your-values\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-live-by-your-values\/\",\"name\":\"How to Live by Your Values & Pursue Meaningful Desires - Shortform Books\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-live-by-your-values\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-live-by-your-values\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/woman-thinking-smiling-looking-up.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-01-20T18:28:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-01-27T16:00:47+00:00\",\"description\":\"How can you live by your values? 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