How Our Values Gives Us Direction
Values are guiding principles that help us make decisions and behave in a manner that aligns with our beliefs. These beliefs can be shaped by our upbringing, culture, experiences, and personal convictions. Values act as a compass, providing us with direction in life. They help us prioritize what is important in our lives, from personal relationships to our careers and beyond. When we understand and affirm our own values, we are able to live a purposeful life that feels authentic to us. In essence, values give us a sense of direction, guiding us through the twists and turns that life often presents.
Living in alignment with is a fundamental component to living a rich and fulfilling life. By understanding and acting on your values, you can tap into a deep well of motivation, which in turn fuels directional and intentional daily actions. Values are principles or features of our character that we hold sacred and that guide us toward the person we hope to be. Values are the link between who we want to be and how we live this out through our daily actions.
Living outside of our values can led to tension and feelings of meaningless, guilt, anger, or even resentment. Feeling good about yourself comes from a sense of integrity that manifests when we hold ourselves accountable to our values. We choose who we are by choosing how we spend our most precious, non-renewable resource: our time.
Values show up in the present moment through our everyday decisions. For example, if you ask someone what type of worker or teammate they would like to be, and they answer that they would like to be accountable, supportive, or continually challenged to grow, then you would expect that this person will convey these qualities through their daily actions. Examples of these actions include owning up when they drop the ball, helping out a colleague when they have the capacity to do so, or choosing to take on challenging new projects. The values of accountability, supportiveness, and growth are the guiding principles that direct this person toward the type of colleague they would like to be.
Values guide us to act in line with our deepest yearnings in the present moment and in an ongoing fashion. Goals are a destination points that we target for in the future. For example, if you say your goal is to open a bakery, you can do that and then it is done. But if you want to be an independent, skillful, and persistent bakery owner, then independence, skillfulness, and persistence are the values guiding your daily actions running your bakery, moving you closer to specific goals, and keeping you motivated throughout the ups and downs of starting and running your own business.
Remember, our values point us in a direction; they are our compass. They lead us along the path of being the person we hope to be. When you encounter a fork in the road, faced with a tough decision, pull out your compass and consider which direction it is pointing you toward.
