It was quite a while since I wrote something on my blog, because I was busy learning stuff. But this post is going to be one of the most important I ever wrote. Why? Because what I‘m about to write, plays critical role in our success. A lot of people underestimate the power of clear values and their impact on our life. So buckle up and be prepared to rediscover what you value.
So What‘s With The Values?
First of all let‘s get clear what values are. Values are basically what‘s important to you in our life. As the title might suggest you, values act as an inner compass that guides you through the maze of endless choices that life throws at us. Wouldn‘t that alone make your life easier?
But hey, this is not all. Let me explain one common problem that a lot of people does. The biggest and most frustrating thing for most of us (it was even for me) is when we set ambitious or realistic goals. Most of the time we end up abandoning them, or in the worst case scenario, achieving but not getting any satisfaction of it. How come does this happen? Well it‘s painfully simple answer. Yours goals are not in alignment with your VALUES.
You see, it‘s much easier to build your life on what you know that‘s VALUABLE and WORTHWHILE for you. Values are smart; when you know them you make smart choices. And most of all you know yourself more than any other person about themselves. This is your personal advantage over endless distractions that this world has to „offer“ – look at the media… there are so MANY stuff you would like to get…but are they really important to you?
Personal Values in a Nutshell
Let me summarize and encompass what are values to make it clearer. So values are:
- Inner Compass - your personal compass that guides you to true happiness
- Highest Priorities – deeply held driving forces that lets you to prioritize your actions and goals
- Personal Filters – it filters the unimportant stuff out of your life so you save A LOT of time
Living A Valuable Life
Now you know or have a basic understanding of WHAT & WHY about values, let‘s explore HOW can you identify your values and live by them. For this reason I have made a visual mindmap, which you can download at the end of this post as image, pdf or mmap (if you have Mindmap software).
Step 1 – Evaluation
- Within each category (e.g. Spiritual) you will have 12 values, which you have to rate from 0 to 10 (10 being the most important)
- Prioritize your rated values and narrow down to TOP3
- Do the same with the rest of categories
Step 2 – Elimination
- Now you have 21 values, from which you must narrow down to your TOP 10.
- Now imagine that you are only permitted to have five values. Which one you would give up? Cross them out of your list
- By this point you should have your TOP5 values, if you want, you can narrow further down to TOP3
If you have trouble rating, narrowing down or eliminating your values, you can use very simple approach – hierarchy, or in other words, a tournament graph.
Conclusion
When you have your TOP5 or TOP3 values you should consistently reference to them. So the best way to do so is to put them where you could always see them. Write them down on the peace of card and carry them in your wallet. Write them on sticky notes and stick them in your bathroom, on your mirror and on or next to your pc.
Also be aware that values are CHANGING, because you and your circumstances changes. As François de la Rochefoucauld said „The only constant thing is change“.
So keep monitoring changes in your life and from time to time keep referring to your personal value system. The best way to do is to print it and file it. Set a date to re-evaluate your values and see what changed since the last time. I would suggest you to do this every single year.
Hope you enjoy this post and wish you all the best in your search of true values.
DOWNLOADS:
Full Content Image > click here
Printable & Workable PDF > click here
MindManager software file mmap> click here
Very cool blog
Hey, thanks. Glad you like it
tá off. thanks