Values – What Are They and Why Are They Important?

What are they?

To me, values are a part of the foundation of who we uniquely are, what qualities are important to us e.g. love, trust, honesty, etc. and our values can vary in each area of our life e.g. work, health, etc. Some will remain steadfast and some will be flexible.

Why are values important?

• They are part of the foundation of who we uniquely are
• They tell us what is important to us
• They help us to define boundaries
• They help us with relationships, determining whether someone aligns with our values, or even a company
• They are valuable in goal setting and goal getting – if the goal does not align with one of our top values, then there may be blocks, procrastination, self-sabotage as we may not really want to do it

Values lead us to our beliefs (which are rules about our values).

I won’t go into beliefs in this article, but basically, when an event happens, it triggers a feeling and a belief that we have. We know if our values are being met, by the belief we are having about the situation/event.

What is important to you fundamentally and why?

Do you know what your values are?

Yes? Great!!

No? As part of my work, I can teach and walk you through a process to find out what your top, say, 10 or 15 values are.

I have been through this process myself a couple of years ago, when I realised I had no idea what my values were.

Why? Because I had previously been shown two opposite ends of the spectrum throughout my childhood. Quite commonly, my Mum’s values were at one end of the spectrum, and my dad’s at the other.

It was a valuable learning experience, and it was very insightful, one which grounded and empowered me to continue on my journey of self-discovery, and explore the values I held in each area of my life.

Were they mine or someone else’s?

When they weren’t mine, I looked at what was actually important to me, and drilled down to the specifics.

Our values can sabotage our plans, our goals. If our goal doesn’t meet our core values, then we often, unknowingly, sabotage ourselves, get stuck halfway, or do not feel motivated enough to start or finish them!

Knowing your values means you begin to know you better, deeper and you become more aligned with who you are.

Your True Self begins to shine through, and you feel more empowered and whole.

You feel more grounded within yourself, like you can stand your ground because you know who you are.

Clarity is the key.

Awareness is empowerment.

My top 5 values: love, spirituality, security, health, trust