Identifying and Prioritizing our values
I have spoken and written about values before, more than once. Strongly held, positive values are at the very foundation for creating happy, healthy, satisfied people. Happy, healthy, affluent people exhibit self-confidence and peace of mind, AND are most likely to create enduring, close relationships. Exceptional satisfaction, and success in life are almost always the result.
My previous blogs spoke to the decades long study proving people with strong, enduring relationships are happy, healthy, successful people. These relationships provide the opportunity for people to receive meaningful, helpful feedback. All of this furthers the likelihood of their being happy, healthy, and successful in life. Holding strong VALUES is the starting point for developing into happy, healthy, successful, self-aware people.
There is no reason we can’t feel energized, inspired, and deeply fulfilled most of the time. Identifying and establishing a strong set of meaningful values should make us feel fantastic.
Something more must be emphasized about values…Not all values are equally helpful to building an exceptional life. Values used in support of the collective good (Examples: appreciation, compassion, friendship, gratitude, helpfulness, kindness, service-oriented) lead to far more happiness than values held primarily in support of individual advancement (Examples: achievement, independence, industrious, popularity, affluence, assertive, opportunistic). Both sets of values, when employed together in a person for the greater common good are ideal and generally result in that person being very happy, healthy and successful.
With a strong set of meaningful values…
- Our goals are well-defined and most often hold real meaning for us. Thus, they help us advance in the most helpful direction.
- Our personal boundaries tend to be well-defined and help us function with integrity and effectiveness.
- We more quickly and deeply become authentically aligned with who we are at our core.
- Decision-making and problem-solving improves.
- We have success in creating the life, the future we want to experience.
Even if we generally know our values, life throws experiences at us that at times cause our values to conflict one another. For example, we are taught it is good to be selfless and help others, yet at the same time we are taught to make sure we take care of ourselves. We all know situations arise that place these two values in direct conflict. If we haven’t explored and prioritized our most important values and tested them regularly in our every-day experiences, it is all too easy to be pulled in competing, conflicting directions.
Several values most often espoused by the highly self-aware, happy, healthy, and successful people include gratitude, appreciation, kindness, compassion, and trustworthiness.
Being trustworthy is an indicator of your internal alignment and is necessary if you are to build solid relationships with others. Highly self-aware people form excellent relationships.
If these values weren’t at the top of your list, we would suggest you consider how they could strengthen your character overall. We don’t want to direct you in choosing your top values but feel we would be remiss if we failed to mention those values most commonly held among the most successful people. Every other value you hold dear will be enhanced by your living in alignment with gratitude, appreciation, trustworthiness, and kindness.
Reminder
Review your list of prioritized values and take a careful inventory of the value or values you have held as most important in times of challenge. Consider whether the values you have listed as your top tier will stand up to a challenge at work and in your personal life. You might want to discuss your thoughts and feelings with other trusted friends or colleagues regarding the strength of your values in the face of a direct confrontation.
The more you focus on your values, both when you stand up successfully or waiver in the face of trials, the more you will come to know your deeper inner strengths. Developing your inner core strengths is of prime importance to you.
Tom Searcy
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