Framing values

Are you living your life using your values as a bench mark or are you projecting other peoples values onto your own life or perhaps they are projecting there values into your life? When you work out your core values you have potential to experience greater happiness when achieving a goal and indeed 'living' than if you are using other people values to live your life by.

What would you define as values? Let's see - Loyalty Kindness Thoughtfullness Freedom Communication Love Creativity Friendship Generosity Respect Health Responsibility Integrity

To name a few.... Your values can and will change so be prepared to re-evaluate and be flexible. Making small changes in your professional and personal life to ensure that your values are part of your everyday life will reap so many benefits.

Let's try this exercise -

We will begin with the end in mind ... Imagine your life in 10 to 15 years time (of as far ahead as you picture a huge event like retiring or moving overseas) and you have a gathering of friends, family colleagues and people you have been around for years. They are all here at this wonderful event to celebrate YOU. There are 4 people who will speak at your event -

One person from your family, One person who is a friend, One person who you know through work or professionally, One person who you know through your community, spiritual life, church or religious affiliation.

Now, take some time and write down what they would say in their speech about you. What words would they use? How would they describe your character, your contribution to their lives and the lives of others, their view of who you are and how you show up in their world. Write the speech down for each of your speakers noting who each speak is.

This can be emotional and take some time so don't rush it. Let your mind wander as you go through the process, recall good, bad and indifferent experiences with them.

Once you have done these sit with them for a while and then, maybe the next day, go back to each one and highlight the words, characteristics and threads then write those words onto paper or cards.

Again, take a rest then go back and and pick 4 or 5 that really resonate with you about how you want to be known as having and create narratives around each one -

For example if the words Non-judgmental come out define how this shows up in your life, how do you live this value. What rank is value in your life ( 1 to 10 ranking). Ask yourself 'How will people know I live this value? How does it show up on the street?

This exercise will help you get clear on your values and see if they truly are showing up in your life and if they really matter. Creating these narratives allows you to have 'pillars'which are your guiding principles to how you life your life, how you want others to respect your values and ultimately provides you a bench mark to set boundaries around.

Don't shy away from the true you... show off your values, live by your values, be around people who represent your values and most of all make sure its YOUR values you are living by and not anyone elses! Creating boundaries around your values will further enhance your self esteem and confident and I will be posting about this in the coming week.

For 4 people I will do a FREE no strings value call for 60 minutes where we will go through this exercise and I will guide you through it and provide notes so that you can gain clarity on living your life by the values you respect most. Click here to email me.

Enjoy and remember integrating your values into your life will make a difference.

Dawn