· 2 min read
Values are 'now'. Act!
Give up on thinking about the outcome. Do what needs to be done. Following your values is complete in itself. The outcome is a bonus.
Photo by Frida Lannerström on Unsplash
Thinking about the outcomes != Thinking in values/karma
Values-based thinking allows you to exercise your value in any situation. The situation may have any outcome, whether in your favour or not. But you can still exercise your values.
Values provide meaning to the present moment instantly. They provide a path to follow in the present moment.
For example, if your value is honesty, you’ll be truthful even when things are not in your favour.
That is, you are more loyal to your values than to anything or anyone else.
The outcome, for the most part, is about a past result or a future worry. Therefore, you have control over it only some of the time. Making decisions for outcomes means you’d decide each time what to do.
Values don’t change for every situation
Values stay mostly the same each time you have to make a decision. You have already decided what to do, i.e. you have chosen your value. You need to act on it.
So, think about the outcome only when you follow your values.
Karma Yog: Sacrifice what you want for needs and need to do. (Something greater)
Some things in life require sacrificing what we want for the greater good. For example, if you are 100 and want to lose weight, you can’t eat Donuts 🍩 all day; you must give up the doughnut for the greater good.
This concept applies to non-personal situations too. Suppose you sense that your friend is doing something that you don’t like. You want to set up a boundary. But you don’t think this may hurt your friend at the moment. But you’ll get hurt daily if you don’t set the limit. It would be best if you sacrificed what you want now for what you need to do—something for the greater.
Similarly, if a kid and we are hungry, we don’t steal the kid’s food even though they can’t defend themselves. We generously offer as much as we can to the kid.