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Living with Purpose: Simple ACT Practices to Align Your Actions with Your Values

Writer's picture: Jessica SukhuJessica Sukhu

By: Jessica Sukhu

In our fast-paced world, it’s easy to lose sight of what truly matters. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) offers a powerful approach to reconnecting with your core values and living a life full of purpose. By taking small, meaningful actions, tuning into your emotions, and embracing the impermanence of life, you can align your daily choices with what matters most. In this post, we’ll explore simple ACT practices to help you live with intention and create a life that reflects your deepest values.


 

ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) is a form of psychotherapy that combines aspects of behavioral therapy with mindfulness and acceptance strategies. Its goal is to help individuals live a meaningful life by increasing psychological flexibility, which is the ability to be open, adaptable, and effective in the presence of difficult emotions, thoughts, and situations.


ACT is based on the idea that struggling against unwanted thoughts and feelings can actually make them stronger, whereas accepting and allowing these experiences to be present, while focusing on values and committed action, leads to better mental wellbeing. It uses techniques such as mindfulness, cognitive defusion (distancing from thoughts), acceptance, and values clarification to help people increase psychological flexibility.


The main components of ACT include:

  1. Acceptance: Learning to embrace difficult emotions and thoughts rather than avoiding or fighting them.

  2. Cognitive Defusion: Reducing the power of negative thoughts by changing the way we relate to them.

  3. Being Present: Cultivating mindfulness to stay grounded in the current moment.

  4. Self-as-Context: Recognizing that one is more than just their thoughts, emotions, or experiences.

  5. Values Clarification: Identifying and prioritizing what truly matters in life.

  6. Committed Action: Taking practical steps aligned with one's values, even in the face of challenges.

ACT is often used to treat a range of psychological issues, including anxiety, depression, chronic pain, stress, and trauma. We will dive into different strategies to reflect on ACT in ones daily life through practices anyone can engage in.


Using ACT in Your Daily Life: Cultivating Values through Action


1. Identify a Life Domain to Reinvent

  • Choose a Domain: Pick an area of your life (work, relationships, health, etc.) that you want to bring more care and vitality to.

  • Action Aligned with Values: Engage in activities that reflect your core values (e.g., kindness, love, creativity) in this domain.

  • Reflect: Pay attention to how it feels when you act in alignment with your values.


2. Let Love Guide Your Actions

  • Life-Altering Events: Reflect on any major life changes (job loss, illness, or natural disaster) and how they reshaped your values.

  • Value of Love: In moments of crisis, love often becomes the most important value. Try to bring this mindset into your daily life.

  • Everyday Actions: Act each day as though love and what matters most are guiding your choices.


3. ACT Daily Writing Exercise

  • Evacuation Scenario: Imagine you had to leave your home quickly. What items would you pack?

  • Explore What You Value: These items reflect what you love most in life.

  • Act on That Love: Think about how you can show love and care today in tangible ways.


4. Create Daily Reminders of Your Values

  • Visual Cues: Make reminders that keep your values front and center throughout the day. Examples include:

    • A photo on your desktop

    • A meaningful ringtone

    • A note in your wallet

    • Jewelry with a symbolic meaning

    • A sticker on your water bottle

    • An object by your nightstand

  • Engage Regularly: Ensure these reminders are things you will see or use often.


5. Daily Reflection

  • Journaling: Reflect each day on how you lived in line with your values. Write down what you did and how it made you feel.


6. Take Meaningful Action Toward Your Values

  • Small or Big Steps: Choose one direction that aligns with your values and take a meaningful step today, whether it’s signing up for an event, reaching out to a friend, or buying supplies for a creative project.

  • First Move: No matter how small, taking action in a direction that matters helps reinforce your commitment to living by your values.


7. Tune Into Your Inner Cues

  • Pay Attention to Sensations & Emotions: Throughout the day, notice physical sensations and emotional cues. Ask yourself:

    • What do these cues teach me about how well I’m aligning with my values?

    • How do I feel when I’m on course versus when I’m off course?

  • Live in the Moment: Imagine if you only had an hour (or minute) left to live. What would you do? Let this guide your choices and actions, helping you stay focused on what truly matters.


8. Plan Meaningful Actions

  • Set Your Intentions: Choose actions from your values list and schedule them in your calendar. Plan to follow through on them over the next week, month, or year.

  • Focus on the Next Minute: After planning, take action immediately. What can you do in the next minute that brings you closer to your meaningful goal?


9. Embrace the Impermanence of Life

  • Live as if It Were Your Last Hour: Remember that all things are temporary. Take an hour today to live fully, as if it were your last.

  • Use Impermanence to Guide Actions: Reflect on what a well-lived life looks like for you. Choose to take deliberate action that aligns with those reflections and live fully in the present.


By integrating these practices into your daily routine, you can align your actions with your deepest values, fostering a life that feels rich with purpose, meaning, and connection. Whether big or small, every step counts toward living a life that reflects what you truly care about.


 

Final Thoughts

Incorporating ACT into your daily life helps you live in alignment with your values, creating a more meaningful and fulfilling experience. By taking small actions toward what matters most, tuning into your inner cues, and embracing the impermanence of life, you can stay connected to what truly matters. Whether through big decisions or small moments, each choice you make can bring you closer to living a life of purpose, love, and authenticity. Start today with one simple step and watch how it enriches your journey.


 

References

Resource: 'ACT Journal' By: Diana Hill, PhD & Debbie Sorensen, PhD

Pages: 148-151, + 154, 157 & 160

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