Taking Action
Having identified what is important to you, what actions would reflect your values? Committing to acting in accordance with what is important to you can help to ensure your life is full and meaningful. Taking this kind of action is not always going to be easy. For example, if staying connected with family is important, doing so might mean having to open up to showing vulnerability and personal anxieties. It is possible taking meaningful actions will bring up thoughts and emotions that are welcome and thoughts that are difficult. Committing to an action means seeing the action through guided by what you value, even if it means allowing challenging emotions to come up along the way.
In order to commit to an action, it may be helpful to:
- Think about something you wish to change.
- Identify the values that are related to this change.
- Identify your goals, guided by what is important to you. You may wish to use the earlier goal setting section to help here.
- Be mindful of your thoughts and emotions when you take any action. Changing values or direction can be hard, particularly taking the first step. Be compassionate to yourself and remember a small, first step can make all the difference.


