Live your life

Henry David Thoreau is famous for saying to live the life you have imagined, but many of us are not sure what actually means. How does one decide what kind of life they want to live? What steps need to be taken in order to live that life? What if the life you want runs counter to norm? I believe that living your dream life starts with your values and principles. When you determine what is important to you, it becomes easier to craft your life.

When determining your values, you need to think about what you personally want. While this seems like an easy, logical step, it can be anything but. It can become very complicated to sift through your thoughts and feelings about money, relationships, location to live in, type of career you want and spiritual decisions. To help improve the process, start by making a list of the things that are important to you. 

Once you have a list you can look it over for consistent themes and narrow it down further. This list can then serve as a foundation for writing a personal mission statement or manifesto.

Review your list and write your principles into a series of action steps that reflect those values. At the end of this exercise you should have a page or two that you can use to evaluate the opportunities in your life. Those that are in line with your values can be acted upon, those that don't can either be passed over or changed to meet those values. When you take the time to really think about what is important to you and what life you want, you can create a framework that guides your decisions to  improve and amplify your life. 

This paper reflects who you are and who you want to be. Like anything, it can change over time and there may be some corrections, but when you know what you stand for and the mark you want to leave, your life takes on more meaning.