6 Practical Tips to Live a Lifestyle of Value

Do you want to get the most out of your life? If your answer is yes, then living a lifestyle of value is essential.

I realize this truth recently through my blogging. Blogging gives me the pressure to create content and present something valuable to you, the reader. This pressure forces me to continuously increase my own value. It eventually brought me to the idea of living a “lifestyle of value”, a lifestyle which maximizes the amount of value I accumulate over time.

By living a lifestyle of value, I can provide value simply by sharing my life. Rather than doing special preparation or research, I can share what I already have. This way, blogging feels more natural and effortless, while at the same time makes I grow much faster. I’m still learning to do it, but living a lifestyle of value is my goal these days.

I believe it should also be your goal. It will make you much more valuable to others. Here are 6 tips to live a lifestyle of value:

1. Build the habit of reading

Reading is a very effective way to supply value into your life. By building a reading habit, you will always have fresh ideas and concepts that can later be shared to others.

If you already have reading habit, you should bring it to the next level. This is what I’m doing right now. Though I love reading, my reading rate is not as good as I want. The action I plan to take to improve it is allocating special block of time for reading.

2. Learn from every experience

We will get much more value if we extract lessons from our experiences. Use every experience as a learning opportunity to add value to your life. Having this mindset allows you to minimize unproductive times since you make every moment valuable.

3. Learn from every person you meet

Similar to learning from all your experiences, you should also learn from all the people you meet. Everyone is our superior in some areas, so find those areas and learn as much as possible from him or her.

4. Live the lessons you learn

Learning new lessons is one thing, but applying them is another thing. It won’t do you good if you just learn a lot of new ideas without putting them into practice. The truth is, application often gives you much more value than just learning. You will discover a lot of new things you didn’t realize before.

Of course, this is easier said than done. Sometimes I even fail to apply the ideas I wrote on this blog. But application is something we should pay special attention to.

5. Think 80/20

To maximize the value you get in your life, you should apply the 80/20 rule: 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes. We should then focus our effort on those 20% causes. This rule can be applied to all the points I wrote above. Let’s see some examples for each point:

  • Reading
    Different books give you different value. So choose the top 20% books that give you 80% of the value. Then, for each book, find the top 20% parts and spend most of your time there. This idea can also be applied to articles.
  • Experience
    Whenever possible, put yourself in the top 20% experiences. For instance, let’s say you have six commitments right now and two of them provide the most value. The 80/20 rule says that you should focus more on those two commitments and reduce or cancel the rest.
  • People
    Choose carefully the people you meet. While we can’t always choose with whom we meet, we can choose the people we spend most of our time with. Make sure that you spend most of your time with the winners of life, the 20% people that can give you 80% of the value.
  • Application
    There are so many good ideas out there, but we can’t apply all of them at once. If we try to do that, chance is we will fail. So start with a few things that will make the most difference in your life. Ask yourself: of all the ideas you find, which one will make the most difference? Then focus on applying only that one idea. Later, after you apply it well, you can ask the question again and start working on another idea.

6. Share what you have

We will receive more when we give. So, if you want to get more value, share the value you have to others. For me blogging is one way to do that. I can attest that by sharing what I learn through blogging, I myself receive much more. Sharing the value you get is an indispensable part of living a lifestyle of value.

Photo by CarbonNYC

20 Comments

  1. Good post. The trick about the 80-20 rule is finding which bits to choose!

  2. this is one for the ages. thank you!

  3. I really agree with applying the 80/20 rule to people. I only have a handful of friends, but they are extremely good ones–many of them nurtured over decades. Someone could have hundreds of friends but not really have the time to explore anything significant with any of them. So I focus on true friends, and they all bring more depth to my life, and value.

  4. ” Learn from every person you meet”
    Yes, Most of what I have learned thus far is from my experience and others. I observe a lot, about the people that are close to me. I keep a “metal note” of their mistakes and given a similar situation, I recall that, and try to take measures to prevent them

  5. The busy-ness of work and family make it difficult to carve out time to read. I fill each day with a steady dose of mainstream media, blogs, and whatever book or two I’m working through. One helpful habit I’ve recently picked up this year is podcasts and audiobooks. This way I can “read” while I’m on the bus to work or going for a run. I find myself sharing stories/inspiration with those around me from whatever I’ve just listened to on a particular podcast.

    Keep up the great posts.

  6. Very nice ideas! will share this to my wife!

  7. Richard,
    Yes, the trick is in finding which to choose. It takes practice, but over time we will be better at it.

    Brad,
    You’re welcome!

    Mike,
    Your experience is a good example about applying 80/20 rule to people. I’m glad you shared it with us.

    Sham,
    I like the way you put it. Keeping “mental notes” is a good way to learn from other people.

    flijpive,
    I’m also a fan of audio learning, though it looks like you’ve used it more than me. Just like you, I can attest its usefulness to increase the value of our time.

    Noel.
    I’m glad you like them 🙂

  8. very good article. I agree with your outlook on blogging keeping the pressure on you to constantly improve yourself so you can give valuable information, but this also helps you.

    When people have clear values that are congruent with their daily goals it gives them an inner sense of well being and working towards their mission or “life path” which I believe is a key indicator of people who have high energy and passion for life, and those that don’t who aren’t living they want to.

  9. Donald, I hope you are well. Great post.

    Can I add one?

    Spend time with people you love. Make sure you find the time to spend some of your time with family and friends and have a great fun time.

    Andrew

  10. Will,
    You have some interesting thoughts in your comment. I agree with you about the importance of having clear values and working toward a mission.

    Andrew,
    I’m doing great, thanks 🙂 I love your tip. Relationships are very important and spending quality time with the people we love will bring great value to both us and them.

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  13. Donald,

    I have chosen this post for my weekly GreatManagement Inspirational Articles – The Best Advice From Around The Web. (www.greatmanagement.org). Andrew

  14. Thanks, Andrew! I appreciate it 🙂

  15. Hi Donald
    I agree with your points. I have just come out of hospital – so nothing like a enforced rest to refocus your mind on what is valuable.

    I do enjoy a variety in reading, friends and family and strangers. You never know that the people I shared the hospital ward with may become best friends.

    I always share. Ideas and your blogs. Good for business. Good for personal growth.

    Leona
    http://crystalgrowth.blogspot.com
    http://seibbooks.blogspot.com

  16. Leona,
    I’m glad to learn that you’ve recovered, and I like the way you use your time in hospital.You’re right, we never know what we might get from a situation, so we’d better use it as good as possible.

  17. It’s all very vague really. How do you define value? The things I do to educate myself: thus, self-interest. Or the things I do to help other people?

    Maybe there is value to be had from doing nothing. At least then I’m not hurtin anyone else.

  18. Interested observer,
    Here I define value as the things we do to help other people. Living a lifestyle of value means living in a way that maximizes our ability to help others. In my case, this blog is one way to help others.

  19. Hello!
    What spirituality?
    What does spirituality differ from materiality?
    Whether spirituality depends from professional activity
    Is there spirituality by the synonym of holiness, or holiness purpose of spirituality?
    I apologize for my bad English

  20. okusami olatunbosun
    okusami olatunbosun

    i like this blog,to be sincerely all the points are essential in achieving a lifestyle of value..i will take all the points into practice,thanks & God bless u.

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