Motivate and inspire.
OVERVIEW
Our values are the things in life which we believe are important to the way we live and work. They are the guiding principles against which we measure ourselves. When we're aware of what they are, they can guide our actions and decisions on a day-to-day basis.
We don't always proactively choose our own values and tend to adopt the values of the people or society around us. But when we take the time to consider and then consciously choose our values we can hold more responsibility and agency to how we act or live.
When we believe we have agency over our lives and we live in a way which matches our values, we can feel more satisfied and content.
THE WHY
Our values act as a compass to steer us. They guide us in the right direction when we have important decisions make.
By taking a proactive and conscious decision making process to identify our most important values, we increase the sense of control over our own lives. We contribute to our mental fitness by improving our sense of agency and by increasing the feeling of fulfilment we experience when we live and work in alignment with our true values.
Like many of the Peak State tools, Self Awareness works well in conjunction with other techniques. Why not check out Strengths Identification?
Exercise
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CHECK: Check in with yourself. How are you feeling right now?
Are your thoughts and feelings helpful? Does your behaviour reflect who you believe you are or who you should be? Does your behaviour match those things that you hold as being important in life?
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CHALLENGE: Think about your values and see if they match your beliefs about how you want to live your life.
Use the list below to identify which values you feel are relevant and speak most powerfully to you.
Look at those identified values and ask yourself - why these are your values? Are they relevant to you now? Do they mean something to you or have you subconsciously adopted them from society or from family and friends?
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CHANGE: If you feel that you want to identify different values or explore alternatives, follow the following steps:
Identify times when you were most happy: where were you, who were you with, what contributed to your happiness?
Identify a time when you were most proud: why were you proud, were you with others and what contributed to your pride?
Identify a time when you were most fulfilled: what need was fulfilled? Why did it give you meaning and what contributed to your feelings of fulfilment?
Using the list provided, pick your top 10 values based on the experiences you had when you were most proud, fulfilled and happy.
Now you need to prioritise these to end up with your top 3 values. Think about each one and consider how each one sits with the next and compare the importance of each value to you. Do this until you have put them in rank order.
Now consider those top 3 values. Do they still feel like they are the most important? If they are, then these are the 3 values that you should use as your compass for the decisions and choices you make every day. Ask yourself if your decisions and choices reflect your values. If they don’t, then you need to consider what changes you should make
LISTEN TO THE TOOL