When things are tough, what motivates you to keep going? What do you judge to be important? If present in your life, which things can make you happy? What fills you with passion? If you don't know the answer to some of these questions, it may be time to explore your values.
This blog post will explain why they are such an important thing to be aware of and ultimately harness.
In my work with clients, I often discuss values early on. Why is this? Values are what guide our thoughts, feelings, behaviours, and actions, and play an essential role in our happiness and fulfilment.
In this sense, values are guiding principles that determine how you live or want to live your life. They can motivate and inspire you to reach your goals. By understanding them, you can use them to guide your daily decisions, ultimately contributing to your happiness and wellbeing.
When we are not meeting our values, or when things happen which directly contradict our values, it shows up! It shows negatively in how we think, feel, behave, and act, and sometimes not in ways always noticeable to us. This can derail our goals and our happiness.
Let’s imagine some scenarios:
Think of that person, unaware that they deeply value 'responsibility’. Their current role, due to restructuring, has seen responsibility taken away from them. They’ve grown frustrated and disillusioned.
Think of that person, unaware they deeply value ‘creativity’. They have no creative outlet in any aspect of their life, they simply don’t have the time to pick up that guitar any longer, and their career has stagnated. They become unfulfilled and unhappy.
Think of that person, unaware they deeply value ‘gratitude’. Repeatedly their efforts at home go unnoticed. Relationships in their life suffer.
Think of that person who values ‘family’ but rarely has quality time to spend at home. They feel unhappy and resentful at work.
There are hundreds of scenarios and indeed thousands of permutations on how values can affect our unique situations.
The good news is once we are aware of our values, we start recognising how situations affect us. By building awareness you can start making choices that align with your values whilst avoiding those things that put you in direct opposition to them.
Day by day, over time, this is a powerful way to keep you pointed in the direction you want to be heading. Building layers of positive decisions, and laying a path towards the goals that you desire.
A few other things worth knowing about values:
There is no right or wrong list of values. What’s important to you, may not be important to another.
Values can change slightly over time and deepen as you understand yourself better.
When selecting your values, they should elicit a strong feeling, if not you may well be thinking about a value that you ‘think’ should be important to you.
Values can also be situational e.g., what's true for you at work may not be true for you at home.
In short, exploring your values is a good thing. Moving to a more authentic way of living is a journey worth taking.
If you would like help in exploring your values, please reach out to me. I would be happy to provide an opportunity for you to gain clarity around this essential aspect of who you are.
Thank you for reading!
Nick is a Life, Personal Development, Career & Leadership Coach based in Norfolk, England. Through his work with individuals and businesses, he helps unlock potential. Helping his clients achieve success and happiness in their personal lives and careers - www.nickhowellcoaching.com
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