Personal Values Are Queen when You Want to Live on Purpose

Personal values are the essence of who we are. If you want to create PURPOSE work and use your VOICE, then you must be aware and in relationship with your values.

So much of the work I do with clients is simply bringing them back to their personal values, those things that matters most to them.

Personal values are not morals or ethics. They are simply what uniquely matters most to you. The sum of your values make you unique. You may share some of your values with your friends and loved ones, but the totality of your values are uniquely you. They represent the core aspects of yourself.

Everyone’s different. We all have little nuances that make us who we are. And the more we understand ourselves, the more self-aware we become, and the easier it is to live a PURPOSE driven life while using your VOICE. The process of discovering your personal values involves not just discovering what you’re passionate about but also finding out what’s really important to you.

The truth is most people coast through life without any kind of consideration for what is truly important to them. This means that unfortunately for many, life is something that “just happens” to them. If you want to live on PURPOSE while using your VOICE you need to become mindful of your choices, otherwise you live in a reactive state rather than a proactive state.

Personal values offer a form of focus because it becomes clear to you what’s important to YOU and no one else. To live lifw with PURPOSE we need to become self-aware of our values. This is our roadmap in life.

Values Conflicts

Another reason why personal values are so important is because it becomes clear to us when we are experiencing a values conflict. If you’ve ever felt really frustrated or angry about something, it’s likely you were experiencing a values conflict. When clients work with me the first thing we do is assess their personal values. There are two ways to do that.

Choose a fulfilling event in your life and write it out. Re-read it and find your values. What about that event made it so fulfilling and satisfying? Include all details…

Choose an event in your life that made you angry or frustrated. Use the same process, write it out. Re-read it. What upset you? How did you want things to go differently. Here you will find your values.

Another example of a values conflict might be when we are living a life according to someone else’s values. Many of my clients have followed a strong external authority excelling in school, university and the organizations that employ them but the deep dissatisfaction they are feeling is a VALUES CONFLICT. It is very common that people choose their work based on what their family or mentors wanted for them rather than what they want for themselves. Often children will pick up their parents values instead of their own.

What happens is if that person does not take out time to discern what is hers or her parents’ values then she may windup becoming a lawyer when she really wants to be an artist. This is a deep rooted values conflict, and I see it again and again with my clients. They followed the path of someone else’s values and are left feeling deeply unfulfilled. You can never be happy when caught in the middle of a values conflict.

If you take the time to identify your values they will become your own personal framework for PURPOSEFUL LIVING with an empowered voice. Once you know what’s important to you, and then choose your life based on that, you’ll never waste another second on things that don’t matter.