Find Out What Is Important to You
As discussed in the previous chapter, you have identified your priorities and have made the necessary changes that you wanted and now those relationships, things, and opportunities that you value become your focus. Living by enjoying those things, people, and treasured memories brings clear direction and clarification to your everyday life. Writing down what is most important to you, not just thinking about it, will bring clarity to what you feel is important. This is what is called purposeful living, or having a value-driven life. This process involves self-reflection by identifying what is important to you. Purpose flows from values that are shaped by your past, your upbringing, your parents' influence, and your environment and circumstances in life. Whenever a decision is made, whether consciously or unconsciously, these values affect all you do.
There is no judgment made once you have assessed what you find important to you. It may be your job, a pet, family, friends, or a favorite pastime that motivates you to spend more time doing what you enjoy. Your list may look something like this:
Family
Financial security
Career
Happiness
Love
A summer home to retire to
Traveling
Once you have made your personal list, you may want to share it with your partner, spouse, and children. You may even want to change your priority list based on what you have discovered from those closest to you. After all, they will be the ones who will share in the joys as well as the challenges in your life.
One way to find out what is important to you is to look at what you spend your time doing and spend your money on. This will give you clues to what you value. If you don't like what you see — i.e., you spend too much time at work or watch too much TV — you may want to take another look at this and make some life changes. It is all up to you. Remember, no judgments are allowed: Only be true to yourself and recognize that the choices you make are shaped by what you value. There are no good or bad choices, only better ones to achieve your personal goals.
Alert
Financial planners know the secrets of goal planning — knowing what you want to achieve, strategizing, and reassessing your plan. Finding out what is important to you is a road map to life planning. It can provide a clear direction and path to your life.
Prioritize Your Needs
The next step is to review the things you have identified as important and prioritize them by levels of importance. By numbering or categorizing them, you will be able to internalize what you have written into your daily life. For example, if your family is the most important priority, then spend quality time with them during and after your breast cancer treatments. If you have always wanted to travel and can afford it, go ahead and do it with the people you want to be with most.
