So how do we do your One Good Thing?

There are many routes. It could be through reflecting on our values, setting meaningful goals, practising acts of kindness, nurturing positive relationships or finding meaning in stressful times.

A great place to start is values exploration. We spend a lot of our time as a society thinking about our goals. Values are not the same as goals: values are how we want to behave, and goals are things we want to achieve. They are what we stand for in life and give us purpose. We can think of them as an inner compass to choose effective actions. Translating our values into effective action – action that is aligned with who we are and what matters the most – requires us to really understand what we stand for. Without this, when we are disconnected from our values, we can act in ways that are incongruent with the ways we want to be in life. Living life guided by our values, on the other hand, allows us to feel more engaged and experience life as rich and meaningful.

Here’s a three-step process for working out your values:

Reflect on your top five values for each of three categories: work, relationships and hobbies. You may want to use value tables to help you, such as the table of values from acceptance and commitment therapy.
Consider how your values show up presently in the three categories. Rate each category out of 10 (10 being values that clearly show up in your daily/monthly activities).
Reflect on small steps you can take to make that number a little better. How does this translate into daily/weekly/monthly actions?

What are the benefits of prioritising purpose?

Interestingly, research spotlights that high levels of purpose in individuals are associated with physical wellbeing benefits such as longevity, slower advancement of cognitive decline and healthier immune systems, along with psychological boosts including happiness, protection against psychological distress (eg burnout) and more satisfying relationships.

Having a strong sense of purpose is a human need. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is a five-tier model exploring our needs as humans. The bottom of the hierarchy incorporates our physiological needs (nutrition, sleep, clothing). The next level is our safety needs (security, protection, freedom from fear). Psychological needs form the next two levels of the pyramid: love and belonging (friendship, intimacy) and esteem needs (positive self-evaluation, prestige, feeling of accomplishment). Self-actualisation lies at the top of the pyramid. This need focuses on meaning, growth, transcendence, exploration and play. The needs lower down the pyramid must be satisfied before individuals can proceed to the needs higher up. In the West, our basic needs of food, shelter and security are often met, as is our psychological need for belonging. This leaves us in a position to consider the highest human need: creating a life that deeply excites us, nourishes our curiosity, is rich and meaningful, and in which we emotionally grow.

One Good Thing: why it’s vital to lean into your sense of purpose for better mental health