The Importance of Values When Setting Goals

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the importance of values

The Importance of Values When Setting Goals

 

Why Values Are Important When Setting Goals

We are all unique.

Although we all seem to want the most basic of needs in life such as shelter, food, love, respect, the truth, etc our uniqueness determines what we value most.

Setting goals that are generic might not work for us if we don’t know what we value the most. Identifying what drives you will be the best predictor of your success.

Your goals should be set around these values.

In this article, we discuss where values come from, why values are important and there is an exercise to help you determine your core personal values.

 

Where do  Our Values come from? 

Values stem from our beliefs and convictions, which then guide and direct our behaviors.  They are the essence of who each of us is, the foundation of our unique self-expression.

Values help us to act with integrity. When our life priorities are aligned with our values, we are well on our way to experiencing fulfillment in our lives.

Whatever values a person has will help paint the picture of the life that person wants to live.  What a person holds up as important on the inside ends up being reflected, just like a mirror, in the physical world around them.

But if a person is not living in alignment with their values, a disconnect between who they are on the inside and the life they are living on the outside is then created. This disconnect can easily zap a person’s energy and derail them from their goals and dreams.

A good reason why so many people hate their jobs is for this reason. Spending 8 – 9 hours a day doing something that is of no interest to you is incongruent with your value system.

I must point out here that some people who are hugely driven by money will not feel the same disdain towards their jobs. In this case, the value they put on money is of the most importance.

On the contrary, people who love what they do for a living will tell you without hesitation that they would be doing it anyway, even if they never got paid to do it.

Identifying Your Personal Values

To take the first step in determining the core values working just below the surface of who you are, take a few minutes to perform the following values identification exercise. 

We derive a great deal of personal fulfillment when we live out our values. 

Still, life is one of our choosing. 

Find out what core values you have and then decide whether you are expressing them in your life.

 

Identifying Your Personal Core Values Exercise

  1. From the Personal Core Values List below, highlight the 25 words that best represent what matters most to you in your life. 
Acceptance
Accomplish
Achievement
Acquisition
Adventure
Alignment
Altruism
Amusement
Assistance
Attractiveness
Authenticity
Awareness
Beauty
Calm
Charity
Community
Compassion
Connection
Consciousness
Consideration
Constancy
Contentment
Contribution
Cooperation
Courage
Creativity
Dependability
Dignity
Discovery
Diversity
Education
Effectiveness
Elegance
Wellbeing
Encourage
Empathy
Encouragement
Energy
Enlightenment
Entertainment
Environment
Equality
Ethics
Excellence
Experiment
Expertise
Exquisiteness
Fairness
Faith
Family
Feeling good Fitness
Freedom
Friendship
Fun
Generosity
Gratitude
Guidance
Happiness
Harmony
Health
Honesty
Honor
Hope
Imagination
Independence
Influence
Innovation
Inspiration
Instruction
Integrity
Intelligence
Inventiveness
Justice
Kindness
Knowledge
Laughter
Leadership
Learning
Love
Loyalty
Mastery
Merriment
Nobility
Nutrition
Order
Organization
Originality
Peace
Peacefulness
Perception
Personal Development
Play
Positive attitude
Power
Preparation
Presence
Provider
Quest
Radiance
Recognition
Relatedness
Relationships
Reliability
Religious
Resourcefulness
Respect
Responsibility
Responsiveness
Safety
Security
Self-awareness
Self-worth
Sensations
Serenity
Service
Simplicity
Spirituality
Stability
Stimulation
Strength
Strengthen
Success
Superiority
Teaching
Tenderness
Tranquility
Trust
Truthfulness
Understanding
Victory
Vision
Wealth
Wholeness
Winning

 

For an alternative (and more in-depth)  online resource you might want to try Dr. John Demartinis FREE Value Determination Process. You can find it here.

 

Once you have identified the 25 words that resonate with you the most, place them in groups of 5. Then give each group a name (for example, health, wealth, or spiritual).

Now rate yourself out of 10 on how well you are doing in each of these core areas of your life. Perhaps in the health area, you are only a 3/10 but in the spiritual area, you are a 7/10. There is no right or wrong.

The last part of the exercise would be the most important:

 

Reflect on the results

  • What insights have you gained from conducting this values identification exercise?
  • What kind of person would you be if you were living out each of your core values to their highest degree?
  • What connection can you find between the core values you have identified and your highest hopes in dreams for your life?

 

Further Actions To Take regarding the importance of Values

Values exist whether we recognize their presence in us or not. 

But by having a greater understanding of them you can develop plans, set goals, and make decisions that will honor them.

Determining your core values will help you to discover what’s truly important to you. 

Making choices in life based on your core values won’t always be easy, but since your core values are important and such a central part of who you are and who you want to be, honoring them is crucial.

The core values this exercise has revealed for you should only be regarded as the beginning of the process of determining the essence of who you are. 

In the days ahead, keep asking yourself what and why values are important to you and what you really care about and want for your life.

 

Actionable Idea:

Recall those moments in your past when you were most happy and fulfilled.  What values were being honored in those moments?

Also, think about the times when you were most frustrated.  What values were being violated in those moments?

 

Also Read:

5 Powerful Self-Improvement Tips for Everyday Use

 

In Conclusion

Certainly, there are more values working within you than just the five values revealed here.  Continue the work of discovering your other unique qualities, beliefs, principles, and convictions.

And most importantly, focus on all the ways you can incorporate your values more into your life each day.

This is where you will find your greatest happiness and fulfillment.

 

Have you considered the importance of values when setting your goals? Leave a comment

 

Related Articles:

What is a Personal Development Plan?

Prioritize your life to Easily Achieve your Goals

One of the Golden First Keys to Success (And How to Master It)

 

 

The Importance of Values When Setting Goals

 

 

 

 

 

2 thoughts on “The Importance of Values When Setting Goals”

  1. This is a really detailed topic and you’ve done a great job writing about it. Values are just as important as the goals being set. This is great to see because your blog is very similar to mine, good luck on your blog.

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