Could you list your core values? Did you know goals change but core values are consistent for most of your life? Understanding your core values will help you learn about yourself and help make the right decisions for YOU. This is useful when it comes to many aspects of life, specifically around work and careers. If you don’t know yours, take the time to learn and understand them. It will help you understand why you have been more suited to some roles than others, why you don’t always get on with certain people (!) AND can help to motivate you when striving for goals and change. Right…so what are yours? One of the easiest exercises I get people to do in coaching and workshops is the following…
Think about your greatest achievement or thing you are most proud of. What was it? Take a moment to really think about this.
What did if give you a SENSE of? Write these words down. As many as you can.
What was your most enjoyable job or role? Again, think about this in some detail.
Again, what did it give you a SENSE of? Write as many things down as you can.
How do people describe you in terms of values? Write them all down.
You hopefully have started to repeat the same 3-4 words (these are most likely your core values). Some examples may have included ‘integrity’, ‘achievement’, ‘safety’, ‘security’, ‘honesty’, ‘recognition’, ‘authenticity’, ‘courage’, ‘freedom’…. the list goes on!
Please share (comment) for any that come up for you! This is just the start!
If you do these exercises quickly and without overthinking, you are more likely to write the ones that are most natural to you. By understanding your core values, you will know what motivates you most and your ‘pull’ factors. This will also help to identify a company with values that most resonate with you (you can find most company values on their website). It will also help to explain why you may not have got on well with a certain work colleague in the past (usually when they go against a particular value) or enjoyed a certain role or company (again, if it goes against a core values). These result in ‘push’ factors and things you want to run away from! This all helps to understand the past and therefore inform the future and future decisions.
I hope this has given you a taster into values and why they are important. Understand them, use them in your CV, applications, interviews etc. They are what will make you stand out and make you UNIQUE - they are your secret weapon. They are also usually linked to your strengths (another topic!). You can learn more with me through 121 coaching and/or at a Career MOT and Goal Setting Workshop (next one 22nd May) where we cover this and much more. Check out the website or get in touch for more info.
Jen X