Values
“I have learned that as long as I hold fast to my beliefs and values. and follow my own moral compass, then the only expectations I need to live up to are my own," Michelle Obama - Tuskegee University Commencement Speech in 2015.
​
​
Values are the unique attitudes and beliefs that motivate and drive us. They are what makes you who you are.
They are a fundamental part of who you are as they reflect what matters most to you.
Values can sometimes feel like a vague and abstract concept but there are practical actions that you can take to discover your values and apply them in your day to day life and at work.
​
Why your values matter?
​
​
Throughout your life you are going to be making decisions and your values help you make those decisions.
​
​
Every stage in your life provides you with new views on your values.
Use your values as a compass to help guide you through the decisions and challenges of modern life.
Here is an exercise to get stuck into.
​
In your journal, add a life chart like the one below. Once you are set up, add in events that have made you happy or sad. This process will help you find your must haves in your life.
​
Make notes alongside each event that you will be able to understand what made it such a happy time and what was happening for it to be a sad time.
​
​
Think about your very first job. What were you doing and how did it make you feel?
Mark where your feelings were on the scale in the chart. Write down the different emotions you were feeling in this role and who or what triggered them.
For example,
You may have been happy because you were a part of a small team who gave you responsibility and trust as well as a manager who would try to develop you.
Or you may have felt a small undervalued part of a big team who would had big impact on peoples lives and society.
​
Keep adding in the events until you come to today. Think about what these stand out events were trigged by as well as what these events trigged in your life.
At each happy or sad event add on another page or next to the marker if there is space, the feelings and details that were around at that time.
​
You will be able to then see trends of your values through your high and lows.
​
Now the fun begins.
​
Look back through the tasks so far and write on one page all of the values that you have come up with so far.
​
If there are more values that mean the same combine them to just one word. For example, trust, freedom and responsibility could all mean the same thing.
​
Now from your list circle the top 10 most important values to you. These can be the most common ones or ones that give you the biggest challenge to leave out.
Now that you have your 10 most important values, we are going to shake your head around a bit.
​
In your journal, create a table that looks like the one below.
You will then need to add your 10 values into the red boxes.
When you have added these in, you will need to start the battle of values.
Using only the left column as yourself which value in more important.
Yes you will say "it depends" which is great as you are exploring what situations your values are important.
​
Work through all of the values in the left column and add a tick or colour to identify if the value is more important. Trust vs Respect, Trust vs Drive, Trust vs Appreciation until you get to Freedom vs Growth.
You should then have something that looks like this.
​
If you have worked it all well you should have 45 scores on the right hand box.
​
The higher scores should show your core values and important values. You can disagree with your scores however the exercise is there to highlight what is most important to you and should help you to make or understand the decisions you are making.
​
Your scores and values will change depending on your environment and mood when completing the exercise.
“Your beliefs become your thoughts,
Your thoughts become your words,
Your words become your actions,
Your actions become your habits,
Your habits become your values,
Your values become your destiny.”
― Gandhi