Values: “…a person's principles or standards of behavior; one's judgment of what is important in life” (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/value); “In ethics and social sciences, value denotes the degree of importance of some thing or action, with the aim of determining which actions are best to do or what way is best to live, or to describe the significance of different actions” (https://languages.oup.com/google-dictionary-en/).
There appear to be two kinds of ‘values’: 1. those that are set by parents and the culture, and 2. those that are considered and put in place by individuals for their own guidance. The first kind of values is often taken in as ‘truth’ without examination until one reaches the teenaged or older years when the indoctrinated values of the family unit, the religion one grows up in, the country and region one lives in, political and other sub-cultures one’s parents are entrenched in -all come under scrutiny. Those values are often temporary in our lives because they come at us from the outside. We all must discover what is true for us, and when we do, our values shift from simply going along with whatever our family of origin, our native culture taught us to believe to forming our own values. The second kind of values is what is the most exciting because we, ourselves, curate them. They come from inside us, who we truly are. They create our boundaries, the lines no one can cross without consequences.
Have you discovered, defined, and recorded your personal values separate from the ones thrust on you by parents, religion, culture? Included in this blog post are Values Worksheets for you to, after thoughtful consideration, record your values on three levels. Remember, values aren’t “shoulds.” They are our guiding principles as defined by ourselves.
To get you started thinking about your values, check out these free resources: https://high5test.com/personal-values-list/#:~:text=Every%20individual%20has%20a%20unique,diligence%2C%20perseverance%2C%20and%20discipline and https://brenebrown.com/resources/dare-to-lead-list-of-values/ , https://www.betterup.com/blog/meaning-of-personal-values .
In addition, I shared some my personal Values Worksheets as inspiration to simply start the process of defining, then, refining and recording your values. Anything you identify as a personal value will be observed and examined every day. Our values remind the world who we truly are. Are you ready to get started discovering, defining, refining, and recording your values?
While most values are held in high esteem and represent our highest self, there is a category of values that are not lovely and are ones we are working to deconstruct from our lives: the pretend values. These are restraints we put on our own lives that get in our way. They are often 'go-to' reactions that are deeply established in our personality and that hinder our progress. I use these as reminders of the kind of person I do not want to continue being. Because I work on deconstructing these from my life, I expect this time next year, they will be off the list...and, hopefully, no more go on the list.
Even if you don’t define ALL of your values, your core Unmovable Values are essential as they are your North Star, your guide to navigate life. I'd enjoy seeing your personal values, so, please share your thoughts and insights by either commenting below this post if you are reading this on social media, or, if you are reading this through your email subscription, please share, by emailing me, at reimaginelife22@gmail.com. Because I'm going into hospital this week for another stents procedure attempt, there may not be a blog post the following week.
Thank you for reading and participating in this blog essay; I invite you to subscribe to my blog at www.reimaginelifecoach.com.
