What we value is what we prioritize

In life, we have our plans and ideas we decide to fulfil according to what we consider most important and less important, or that is what we are supposed to do in theory. But in reality, we know what is most important and urgent, but we decide to go ahead with the easiest and most pleasurable things. We might think we enjoy it, but in the end, the pressure of not doing what we need to do is still there.

A value is a quality we add to things, making them more meaningful or meaningless. These can be divided into 2 categories:

Good values are 1) reality-based, 2) socially constructive, and 3) immediate and controllable: Honesty, innovation, vulnerability, standing up for oneself, and others, self-respect, curiosity, charity, humility, and creativity. They are internal, and you simply have to orient your mind in a certain way to experience them. These values are immediate and controllable and engage you with the world as it is rather than how you wish it were.

Bad values are 1) superstitious, 2) socially destructive, and 3) not immediate or controllable: dominance through manipulation or violence, indiscriminate fucking, feeling good all the time, still being the centre of attention, not being alone, being liked by everybody, being rich for the sake of being rich, sacrificing small animals to the pagan gods. Bad values generally rely on external events—flying in a private jet, being told you’re right all the time, owning a house on the beach or a boat, etc. Bad values, while sometimes fun or pleasurable, lie outside of your control and often require socially destructive or superstitious means to achieve  

Values are about prioritization, deciding to begin with classifying things to get them done to be happy. Everybody would love a good gelato or a house in Monaco. The question is your priorities. That is why people become achievers because they prioritize, and they practice the virtue of organization. What are the values that you prioritize above everything else, and that therefore influence your decision-making more than anything else?  

This, in a nutshell, is what “self-improvement” by being happy is living the virtue of organization: prioritizing better values, choosing better things to give a fuck about. Because when you give better fucks, you get better problems. And when you get better problems, you get a better life. 

Know your values: https://forms.gle/vMan4fnwsQjZfxV76