The long, light-filled Finnish summer is slowly drawing to a close, and the crisper autumn air is signaling a return to familiar routines. While the extended Finnish summer break provides a much-needed period of rest, rejuvenation and exposure to sunlight, simply relying on that stored-up energy might not be enough to carry us smoothly through the autumn and the inevitable darker days.
As we step back into the rhythm of work and daily life, it’s tempting to dive-in headfirst, eager to make up for lost time and sign up for too much at work, in our personal lives and in our spare time. However, this can be a recipe for draining our resources and getting overwhelmed and stressed out. Instead, it’s better to observe and pace ourselves. Instead of thinking about what you “should be” doing, try to think about what would fill your cup, including rest, and resist the urge to fill every moment of your calendar. True productivity isn’t about doing more; it’s about doing what matters in a sustainable way.
This is a perfect time to consciously build balance into our lives. Continue to prioritize rest, just as you did during the summer. This is also an opportunity to pause and reflect on our values. Ask yourself: What truly matters to me? How closely are my daily actions aligned with those core values?
Drawing from the principles of acceptance and commitment therapy, we can use our values as a compass. Gently review what is most important to you — be it creativity, community, health, or learning. Take stock of how your time is currently spent and begin to slowly calibrate your activities to better reflect what you hold dear. This isn’t about a radical overhaul, but a series of small, intentional shifts. By aligning our actions with our values, we can navigate the seasonal transition with a sense of purpose and well-being, ensuring the restorative effects of summer last long into the darker months.
Here is a list of common everyday values to help you on your way. Choose 3-5 values that you want to focus on this autumn. Value work is about constant readjustment and self-acceptance, so don’t berate yourself if you aren’t hitting the bullseye with all of your values all of the time!
- Acceptance: to be open to and accepting of myself, others, and life.
- Adventure: to be adventurous; to actively seek, create, or explore novel or stimulating experiences.
- Assertiveness: to respectfully stand up for my rights and request what I want.
- Authenticity: to be authentic, genuine, real; to be true to myself.
- Beauty: to appreciate, create, nurture, or cultivate beauty in myself, others, and the environment.
- Caring: to be caring towards myself, others, and the environment.
- Challenge: to keep challenging myself to grow, learn, and improve.
- Compassion: to act with kindness towards those who are suffering.
- Connection: to engage fully in whatever I am doing and be fully present with others.
- Contribution: to contribute, help, assist, or make a positive difference to myself or others.
- Conformity: to be respectful and obedient of rules and obligations.
- Cooperation: to be cooperative and collaborative with others.
- Courage: to be courageous or brave; to persist in the face of fear, threat, or difficulty.
- Creativity: to be creative or innovative.
- Curiosity: to be curious, open-minded, and interested; to explore and discover.
- Encouragement: to encourage and reward behavior that I value in myself or others.
- Equality: to treat others as equal to myself.
- Excitement: to seek, create, and engage in activities that are exciting, stimulating, or thrilling.
- Fairness: to be fair to myself or others.
- Fitness: to maintain or improve my fitness; to look after my physical and mental health and well-being.
- Flexibility: to adjust and adapt readily to changing circumstances.
- Freedom: to live freely; to choose how I live and behave, or help others do likewise.
- Friendliness: to be friendly, companionable, or agreeable towards others.
- Forgiveness: to be forgiving towards myself or others.
- Fun: to be fun-loving; to seek, create, and engage in fun-filled activities.
- Generosity: to be generous, sharing, and giving to myself or others.
- Gratitude: to be grateful for and appreciative of the positive aspects of myself, others, and life.
- Honesty: to be honest, truthful, and sincere with myself and others.
- Humor: to see and appreciate the humorous side of life.
- Humility: to be humble or modest; to let my achievements speak for themselves.
- Industry: to be industrious, hard-working, and dedicated.
- Independence: to be self-supportive and choose my own way of doing things.
- Intimacy: to open up, reveal, and share myself- emotionally or physically in my close personal relationships.
- Justice: to uphold justice and fairness.
- Kindness: to be kind, compassionate, considerate, nurturing, or caring towards myself or others.
- Love: to act lovingly or affectionately towards myself or others.
- Mindfulness: to be conscious of, open to, and curious about my here-and-now experience.
- Order: to be orderly and organized.
- Open-mindedness: to think things through, see things from others’ points of view and weigh evidence fairly.
- Patience: to wait calmly for what I want.
- Persistence: to continue resolutely, despite problems or difficulties.
- Pleasure: to create and give pleasure to myself or others.
- Power: to strongly influence or wield authority over others, e.g. taking charge, leading, and organizing.
- Reciprocity: to build relationships in which there is a fair balance of giving and taking.
- Respect: to be respectful towards myself or others; to be polite, considerate and
show positive regard. - Responsibility: to be responsible and accountable for my actions.
- Romance: to be romantic; to display and express love or strong affection.
- Safety: to secure, protect, or ensure safety of myself or others.
- Self-awareness: to be aware of my own thoughts, feelings, and actions.
- Self-care: to look after my health and well-being and get my needs met.
- Self-development: to keep growing, advancing, or improving in knowledge, skills, character or life experience.
- Self-control: to act in accordance with my own ideals.
- Sensuality: to create, explore, and enjoy experiences that stimulate the five senses.
- Sexuality: to explore or express my sexuality.
- Spirituality: to connect with things bigger than myself.
- Skillfulness: to continually practice and improve my skills and apply myself fully when using them.
- Supportiveness: to be supportive, helpful, encouraging, and available to myself or others
- Trust: to be trustworthy; to be loyal, faithful, sincere, and reliable.