Your List of Values and Your Goals

YOUR LIST OF VALUES AND YOUR GOALS

One more element that should effect how you set your goals  is your own personal list of values — your value system.

For good or bad, we all have a list of values, whether we have ever written those down or not.  Or even thought much about them, for that matter.  No one else has the right to make judgements about your value system unless you give them permission.  Truthfully, it wouldn’t do much good if they did, anyway.  Our list of values have

Your list of values is such a part of you that we will be unhappy if your goals do not agree with your values.

It takes a lifetime to form your personal value system.

been developed over a lifetime.  Some came from our parents…even though we sometimes resisted.  Some came from our Church.  Some came from our formal education.  Some came from our personal experience.  Some came from our emotional reaction to our own lives and things we have experienced.  We have blended all these together…usually subconsciously…to create a complex value system that is uniquely our own.  If our dreams and our life goals  do not fit within our value system, we will be uncomfortable.  We will not be happy.  For that reason, it is crucial that we understand our value systems.

You have a list of values that connects to every area of your life.  Since your life is multifaceted and since your entire life needs to be a part of your story,  you need to write and think about  your values in every facet of your life — financial and business, family and friends, education and learning, cultural, spiritual and/or ethical, and health.

WHAT IS A VALUE SYSTEM?

What do I mean by a value system?  Examples from my own list of values are that I value loyalty in friendship (from myself and from the friend), I value dedication to family, I value honesty in business, I believe in voting in every election  and

Your life goals must jive with your list of values.

Your values are a part of you.

 in service to my country, I value tolerance of all people,  I value forgiveness.  You get the idea.  An excellent article to explain this in more depth is The Power of Personal Values by Roy Posner.  Your values must be your own deeply felt beliefs.  As Posner explains, they must be part of your personality. After you read the article, write a list of your values.  It should be extensive — meaning lengthy.  Just scribbling down a half a dozen values won’t get it.  You are a complex person who has a complex list of values.  By being thorough, you will be preparing yourself to do your long term goals but you will also gain valuable insight into why you lead your life the way you do and the direction you want to go in the future.

Again, if your spouse/partner and you are doing these exercises together, you should write separate lists and then share them.  It will give you a better understanding of each other and possibly some very interesting dinner conversation.  Values are unique to each person.  This part can’t be a joint exercise.

Your values are such an important part of you, if your life goals, your story, do not jive with your values, you will feel uncomfortable  with what you are doing and will be likely to fail in the end.  At the very least, what you are doing will make you very unhappy.  That is why it is crucial to understand your values before you start setting goals.

I WOULD LIKE TO HEAR FROM YOU!

Let me know about your past successes or failures and whether what you have gotten from this blog so far has changed your thinking in any way or set you on a new path.  Please  leave a comment.  I would like to hear from you.  And if you leave your name and email address at the top right corner of this page, I will also send you notification anytime I update the blog.


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