Periodically, I’ll have a conversation with clients about values.
And two questions to ask:
- What are your values?
- How are your behaviors aligned with your values?
Values can change over time and depending on what might be happening with family, faith, health, finances, etc., your values might shift in priority.
They might also run in contrast to your loved ones…
And truth be told, I hadn’t taken stock of my own values in a long time until recently.
I was given a list (which I’ll adapt and repurpose) and was asked to pick my top 12 values.
Once they were selected, I had to narrow down to 6.
And once those were picked, it was to find the top 3 I couldn’t live without.
Mind you, it’s not uncommon for personal values to align with professional values.
And the non-exhaustive list started with things like:
Achievement
Adventure
Arts
Close relationships
Community
Competition
Cooperation
Creativity
Effectiveness
Efficiency
Excellence
Expertise
Fame
Financial Gain
Freedom
Friendship
Growth
Honesty
Independence
Influencing Others
Inner Harmony
Integrity
Knowledge
Leadership
Loyalty
Meaningful Work
Merit
Money
Nature
Order
Power and Authority
Promoting Personal Development
Recognition
Religion
Responsibility And Accountabilty
Serenity
Stability
Status
Transparency
Truth
Wealth
Wisdom
Work Under Pressure
Working With Others
Work Alone
(Edited and adapted from the work of Peter Senge)
And when I’d finished all of my curating and crafting, I was left with three:
Integrity
Stability
Promoting Personal Growth
As I’ve looked back on my life, the personal and professional aspects, if these three values weren’t in place, everything else suffered.
Integrity and stability encompassed mental health, relationships, professional behavior, and finances while promoting personal growth affected emotional, physical and professional improvements.
When I feel like I’ve prioritized those three, life feels a bit more seamless to me and while it’s never going to be perfect and there will always be gaps that need attention, keeping these values front of mind covers a lot of ground.
I write this on the heels of celebration of our 12-year wedding anniversary and when I told Marissa about my 3 values, she understood completely.
So, my ask of you this week, is to take a look through the list, find your top 12, then your top 6, then the 3 you can’t live without.
Once you’ve found them, ask yourself: Am I living in accordance with these, and if not, what can I do to change that?
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