9 - Introducing the Vital 9 and Words for Values

Today, we're going to wrap up our look at finding and living your values with a classic exercise for finding your values - but with a little twist.

Welcome back to I Wanna Be Me When I Grow Up. My name is Kara.

For many people, when they think of finding their values, they think of the most iconic exercise for finding your values which is to read through a list of words - usually a random list - and choose the words that speak to them. It's so iconic, I offered my own version of it on my website just a few weeks ago. You can find that at https://www.iwannabemewhenigrowup.com/post/use-a-list-of-inspirational-words-to-find-your-values

But, today, I'm going to offer a similar exercise, but with a twist. And we're going to use that twist to frame out the next several episodes of the podcast - focusing on what author and podcaster Gretchen Rubin calls the Vital 9 - the 9 elements of your life that you have to think about in order to live a happier, healthier, more productive life. 

Today, I'm going to simply introduce the main categories of the Vital 9 and then offer some possible value words that you might associate with each of those areas. On the next 9 episodes, we'll be talking in depth about each of the Vital 9 and how you might decide the role they play in who you wanna be when you grow up. 

So, without further ado, grab you pen and listen in to the Vital 9 and a few associated words with each of these topic areas. 

1. The first vital area is Energy. Some words you might associate with energy are: health, wellness, wellbeing, fitness, nutrition and self-care

2. The second vital area is Productivity. A few words that might speak to you in this area are performance, prestige, action, accomplishment, initiative, and ambition

3. The third vital area is Relationships. A few words that might speak to you in this are are family, love, connection, comradery, teamwork, collaboration, and nurture.

4. The four vital area is Recharging. Some words that relate to this area could be play, fun, rest, recharge, hobby, and passion

5. The fifth vital area is Order. Some words that you might like here are calm, organized, deliberate, thoughtful, and justice

6. The sixth vital area is Purpose. Here you might think about things like legacy, impact, vision,  spirituality, belief, and compassion.

7. The seventh vital area is Mindful consumption. Here you might think of things like learning, growth, development, and engagement 

8. The eight vital area is Mindful investment. You might associate words like save, thrifty, prudent, frugal, economical, freedom, future, giving, and generous

9. And finally, the ninth vital area is creativity. There are many words we've already covered above that would fit here. In addition, you might like to think of words like practice, improvement, iterative, imagination, innovation, transform, original, and authentic. 

If you'd like to hear Rubin's take on the Vital 9, you can listen to her episode - I'll put a link in the show notes which you can find on my website at iwannabemewhenigrowup.com -just click on the Podcast tab.  https://gretchenrubin.com/podcast/354-consider-the-vital-9-to-plan-for-2022/

Don't forget to like, rate, review and share this podcast if it was valuable to you. Do you want to make sure you get every episode as well as everything else I publish? If so, then subscribe to my newsletter at https://iwannabemewhenigrowup.substack.com/. 

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