What Do You Value?

I often talk about how important it is to prioritize your daily tasks based on your values… but what are values?  I’m not talking about morals or ethics.  Values are literally the things that you VALUE most in your life.  Most of us are unclear about what is most important, and therefore, we lack the ability to PRIORITIZE based on our values.  This gives us crazy days where we are putting out fires and living in survival, rather than being proactive and moving forward the things that we value as most important.

Therefore, to help you take control of your days, you have to clearly define your values.  Here is an exercise that will help you do exactly that:

ASK YOURSELF: What do I value most?
Select 10 items from the following list that are most important to you.  Feel free to add any of your own that aren’t listed.

Achievement	Friendship	Integrity
Advancement	Growth	Pleasure
Adventure	Family	Power
Affection	Contributing to Others	Fame
Art	Politics	Service
Being Challenged	Honesty	Faith
Variety	Independence	Influence
Intimacy	Privacy	Quality relationships
Community	Peace	Recognition
Competence	Being know	Freedom
Competition	Intellectual status	Reputation
Cooperation	Involvement	Responsibility and accountability
Country	Job tranquility	Security
Health	Knowledge	Self-Respect
Decisiveness	Leadership	Serenity
Democracy	Location	Sophistication
Ecological awareness	Loyalty	Stability
Security	Education	Status
Effectiveness	Meaningful work	Management
Efficiency	Merit	Time
Ethical practice	Money	Truth
Excellence	Nature	Wealth
Excitement	Teamwork	Wisdom
Fame	Order	Work under pressure
Fast living	Personal development	Excitement
Fun	Rewards	Creativity

 

ASK YOURSELF: What Can I Eliminate?

Now that you have identified ten, imagine that you are only permitted to have five values.  Which five would you give up?  Cross them off.

Now imagine that you are only permitted four. Which would you give up? Cross it off.

Now cross off another, to bring our list down to three.

These are your top 3 values.  Everything in your life should be designed to move these forward.  When you master your ability to do this, you will be amazed at how fulfilling, organized and joyful your life is!

CALL TO ACTION:  Examine your daily structure and align your schedule to reflect your 3 most important values, discovered above.