Defining Your Values

What does getting what you want in life have to do with values? There is a connection. Let’s take a look at it today.

You can’t get what you want in life until you know what it is you want. And, you’ll have a hard time knowing what you want, if you are not clear about what your values are. You see, when someone asks you what you really want, what they are really asking is, “What do you value?”

Values are guides for daily living that influence your thoughts, feelings, words and deeds. Values form the foundation of the decisions you make. They shape your personality and give direction to what would otherwise be an aimless, purposeless life. Your values are reflected in your goals, hopes, dreams, attitudes, interests, opinions, convictions, and behavior as well as in your problems and worries.

Values are choices you make from the available alternatives. Therefore, well-chosen values require an open mind, because you can’t choose freely if you don’t know what your options, and their consequences, are. Values are cherished and we fight to keep them because they mean so much to us.

Finally, to be truly significant, values must move from fantasy into reality and be acted upon. They cause us to do something, so that we can get and keep what we prize so highly. And while the cynics among us may dismiss them, it is why successful and significant organizations define their values, and place them front and center, for all to see.

What do you value in life? Have you spent much time thinking about it? If not, you might want to take time to do so. Start today. Sit down and make a list of all your values. Then make a list of all your life goals. Do they coincide? If not, maybe you should re-define your goals to match your values, because it is more likely that you will get what you want in life if you do.