How would you define your values?
This is an important question to be able to answer. Of course, it's even more important to firstly understand what we mean when we speak of values.
What are values?
Your values are the things that you believe are important in the way you live and work. So, your priorities are pretty much (or should be) determined by them. Deep down, they're probably the gauge by which you determine if your life is heading in the direction that you want it to.
When there's a correlation between your actions/behaviour and your values, you generally have a sense of satisfaction and contentment. However, when there's a misalignment with your personal values, that's when things feel disjointed and just plain wrong. This can be a real source of unhappiness. For this reasons, making a conscious effort to identify your values is important.
How Values Help You
Understanding your values can really help because when you know your own values, you can use them to make decisions about how to live your life, and you can answer questions like these:
What job should I pursue?
Should I accept this promotion?
Should I start my own business?
Should I compromise, or be firm with my position?
Should I relocate, or stay close to my ageing parents?
So, take the time to understand the real priorities in your life, and you'll be able to determine the best direction for you and your life goals!
Values can change over time
Keeping in touch with your values is a lifelong exercise, because as you grow and change in different seasons of your life, so too may your values. While they are pretty stable, it does not mean they will never change. You should continuously revisit this, especially if you start to feel unbalanced... and you can't quite figure out why.
In a separate post, I will walk you through some steps to determine and define your values. For now, have a look at the list of core values below. This list is by no means exhaustive but it's a good start especially if you have trouble naming those things that are important to you. Highlight any values from the list that jump out at you.
CORE VALUES LIST
Accountability - Accuracy - Achievement - Adventurousness - Altruism - Ambition
Balance - Being the best - Belonging - Boldness
Calmness - Carefulness - Challenge - Cheerfulness - Clear-mindedness - Commitment
Decisiveness - Dependability - Determination - Devoutness - Diligence - Discipline
Elegance - Empathy - Enjoyment - Enthusiasm - Equality - Excellence - Excitement
Fairness - Faith - Family - Fidelity - Fitness - Fluency - Focus - Freedom - Fun
Goodness - Grace - Growth - Generosity
Happiness - Hard Work - Health - Helping Society - Holiness - Honesty - Honour
Independence - Ingenuity - Inner Harmony - Inquisitiveness - Insightfulness - Intelligence
Joy - Justice
Leadership - Legacy - Love - Loyalty
Making a difference - Mastery - Merit
Obedience - Openness - Order - Originality
Patriotism - Perfection - Piety - Positivity - Practicality - Preparedness - Professionalism
Quality-orientation
Reliability - Resourcefulness - Restraint - Religion - Rigour
Security - Self-control - Selflessness - Sensitivity - Serenity - Service - Shrewdness - Simplicity
Teamwork - Temperance -Thankfulness - Thoroughness - Thoughtfulness - Timeliness
Understanding - Uniqueness - Unity - Usefulness
Vision - Vitality - Versatility
Keep a look out for my next post on 'defining your values'.
Till next time...Godspeed as you navigate this journey of life!
If you, or someone you know are in need of an empathetic listening ear, give us a call at Samway Counselling Services see how we are able to help.
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