Are you building a life worth living?

March 16, 2026

Welcome to another beautiful week. When an idea sparks that I think is worth sharing, it becomes this weekly newsletter. If something hits home, write back. I love conversations. This is Weekly Spark #42.

Every now and then, a question appears for me that refuses to go away.

It shows up when I am at rest, when the day ends, on my runs and when the noise fades. The question is simple, but uncomfortable:

Are you building a life worth living?

Not a life that looks impressive from the outside.

Not a life that earns applause on LinkedIn.

But a life that feels deeply aligned with who you are.

For a long time, I did what most people do. I chased progress. I worked hard. I kept moving forward. Every year looked like growth on paper. But somewhere along the journey, I realised something important: progress without alignment eventually feels hollow.

About six years ago, during my coaching training, our instructor said something that stayed with me.

“You will become as good a coach as the human being you are.”

So for the next 160 hours, we didn’t study techniques or frameworks. We worked on ourselves. That journey pushed me to think about my values even more clearly. 

Over the years, I had lived a life based on values. They strengthened when I became a coach.

I landed on five.

Discipline. Excellence. Freedom. Love. Growth.

Those five words became my inner compass.

They quietly guide decisions every day. When I say yes to a project, when I choose how to spend time with my family, when I decide what work truly matters.

The world measures us using external metrics. Titles. Revenue. Promotions.

Followers. Awards but values create a different measurement system.

They create an inner scorecard.

When your life aligns with your values, something inside settles. Decisions become clearer. Trade-offs become easier. You stop chasing every opportunity and start choosing the ones that actually matter.

Without values, life becomes reactive.

With values, life becomes intentional.

If you want to uncover your own values, here is a simple exercise you can try this week.

Imagine you are 80 years old and life is coming to an end. What would make you call your life a life well lived? What core attributes, what values would you want to live by?

1. Think of times in your life when you felt deeply alive or proud of yourself. What qualities were present in those moments?

2. Reflect on three situations that drained you or left you feeling misaligned. What values were being violated there?

3. Ask yourself a long-term question: in those last moments, how would you want to imagine living your life?

The patterns across these answers often reveal your core values.

Write them down. Start with eight. Then watch how they begin to shape your decisions.

Because in the end, the real question is not whether you are successful.

The real question is this:

Are you building a life worth living?

And if you are not sure yet, maybe this week is the perfect time to pause and begin.

If you are reading this, find me on social media, respond to this email, search my phone number… I am building something epic, and I need your help.

With values, love and light,

Utkarsh