Learning About Yourself to Tell Your Story: Values

By Brenda L. Peterson, The Layoff Lady

Learning About Yourself

When thinking about the life you want to live, it's essential to start with what is truly important to you. Identifying those guiding principles will help you make decisions about how you budget your money, which people you will surround yourself with, and what type of work is right for you. Finding the words to express your values can help you live in alignment and increase your overall wellbeing. Let's look at where you can start.

The Question: What is Important to Me?

In the abstract, it can be hard to figure out what really matters to you. It's even harder trying to convert your thoughts and feelings into words that can help you express what is meaningful to you. Fortunately, there is a tool you can use as a starting point to help you find the right words. 

Part of the Answer: think2perform Values Exercise

At a previous job, when designing a retirement planning seminar, I discovered the think2perform Online Values Exercise. I take this assessment on at least an annual basis. Even though the words that resonate with me stay very similar over time, the process helps me revisit what matters to me most at that point in time.

The assessment includes 51 value cards and four rounds of reviewing the cards. The total time to complete this activity is about 15 minutes or more, depending on how much contemplation you do. In the end, you'll have five value cards remaining with descriptions that name and describe key areas that matter to you.

The Words You Choose May Change Over Time

I have completed this values exercise multiple times. My results vary depending on what is happening in the rest of my life right then. The words that have remained in my top five consistently over time are autonomy, relationships, and health.

When lilfe has felt unpredictable, words like stability, security, and safety have moved up. Similarly, since work is such an important part of my life, there is always a word directly related to what I do for a living. In the past, terms like work, education, or helping others indicated what work meant to me at that time. 

Applying Your Values To Your Life

In the final phase of the values activity, I thought very hard about which words were the best guiding principles for me. Here are the values that resonated with me this time around.
​

• Happiness is defined as feelings of contentment, satisfaction, or fulfillment. After a few challenge-filled years, now I'm creating my new normal. I appreciate what I have and feel good about my progress. I appreciate things others might consider simple, from alone time to quiet yoga, writing, and a good cup of coffee.  
• Autonomy is defined as freedom, independence, and individual discretion. Autonomy is about options and my ability to choose my path. It’s as simple as picking which day I want to go to an exercise class, deciding how to spend my free time, and which project to work on when. I enjoy being in a place in life where I’m less overscheduled and more empowered to direct my time.
• Meaningful work is defined as doing work that has purpose and significance. My work is not just my paid work for a company helping promote learning and development. In addition, it's everything I do for The Layoff Lady. During my last career transition, I feel like I reclaimed what work is for me. Now, my meaningful work includes writing this article on values, thinking about what I'll talk about on an upcoming podcast, and outlining a book on career resilience. I love doing work that leverages my knowledge, enables me to grow, and helps others.
• Relationships is defined as connections between and among people. I appreciate my husband, college-age daughter, two cranky cats, family, and friends. I also value my coworkers, neighbors, the people I interact with on an ordinary day, and the human connection we all share. 
• Health is defined as physical and emotional wellbeing. Having been around people with health and mobility issues, my health is vital to me.  I do yoga daily to increase my flexibility and balance. Roller skating combines speed, agility, music, and fun for me. Walking outside helps me with idea generation and clearing my head. Being mindful of nutrition, sleep, physical activity, and my energy levels dramatically enhances my life. 

Applying Your Values To Your Work

Be sure to use your values as you consider the type of work you want to do and the workplace environment that will help you succeed.
​

• For me, happiness at work means I have a reasonable commute, an inviting office, and various projects. It also means I can work from home sometimes and have in-person meetings other times. It's also having challenging but not impossible work and growth opportunities.
• For me, autonomy at work means I have choices. If I have a later-in-the-day webinar, I can head out early and attend that meeting from home. I can take a break during the day and walk around the block to clear my head as I work on a challenging project. I can also leave early if I have an appointment or work later when I’m hitting flow.
• For me, meaningful work means that what I'm doing makes a difference. I can talk with a people leader about an issue within their department and coach them on a technique that could help. I can ask people what areas of job searching are struggles and create articles on that topic. I can also assess the skills people need to build and find unique ways for them to develop their proficiency.
• For me, relationships at work mean I can get to know people in a meaningful way. I may run a meeting on a topic in my area of expertise and learn something else from a subject matter expert. I get to interact with people at lunch or just work side by side and help one another as needed. I get a chance to know my coworkers as professionals and as people.
• For me, health at work means what I do is intellectually stimulating and the environment is positive. I have a supportive boss who wants me to be successful and gives me feedback to help me improve. I can choose to stand and work for a while, then sit to work on something else. People say hi and are inclusive, so I feel like part of the group.

What Do You Think?

How do your values influence your career decisions? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Learn More

• think2perform Online Values Exercise
• ​The Layoff Lady's Ultimate Guide To Answering The Question, "I Just Got Laid Off--Now What Do I Do?"​
• The Layoff Lady Book: Seven Lessons From Seven Layoffs: A Guide​