Living by Design: Unveiling the Influence of Core Values in Everyday Life

Summary

The article discusses the importance of core values in decision-making and provides a method for identifying and prioritizing them.

Abstract

The article titled "Living by Design: Unveiling the Influence of Core Values in Everyday Life" emphasizes the role of core values in decision-making. The author shares their personal experience of using core values to make a decision about traveling for work and visiting family. The article then provides a step-by-step process for identifying and prioritizing core values, which involves reviewing a list of over 200 values and selecting the ones that align with one's identity and priorities. The author suggests that using core values in decision-making can lead to greater contentment, self-improvement, and opportunities for personal growth.

Opinions

The author believes that considering core values can make decision-making easier and more fulfilling.
The author suggests that aligning decisions with core values can lead to a stronger sense of self and greater confidence.
The author emphasizes the importance of taking time to identify and prioritize core values, rather than rushing the process.
The author implies that using core values in decision-making can lead to unexpected opportunities for personal growth.

Let yourvalues be your guide

Sometimes making decisions can be overwhelming. Should you go this way or that? Here is a way to improve your ability to make hard decisions and feel confident that you have chosen wisely. It starts with assessing what is important to you and ends with evaluating your options against those priorities.

Here Is How Considering Core Values Worked For Me

I had no sooner returned from a month-long trip to India, where I had trained almost 150 people, when an offer for another overseas trip came in. This time the destination would be Toronto which is a mear 10,000km (6,500+ miles) from Tokyo. I was tired of staying in hotels and navigating restaurant choices. So at first, I thought I would decline the offer to visit HQ and stay home. But as I contemplated the value of traveling from the East to the West, I considered what this trip might mean to my future.

Staying home would have been easy, but going meant strengthening my network, learning more about my company’s services, and providing face-to-face training to my team, which would surely motivate them. In addition, traveling halfway around the world would allow me to return home to the San Francisco Bay Area and spend time with my family.

What made my decision easier was that it aligned with my core values of growth, contribution, and family. Additionally, it did not conflict with my other values of inner harmony, self-discipline, and health. In fact, I had opportunities to apply those values as well.

I found inner harmony by spending time alone analyzing the meetings and trainings I attended, and considering how to use the information gathered for future development. I used self-discipline to get to the gym every day, focus on health, and make sure I was ready for the next day’s activities.

Considering how I was able to apply my core values to the situation, I would say my trip was a huge success.

How to Reveal Your Core Values

How can you find the same level of contentment in the big decisions you make that I do? It starts with core values. At the end of this story is a list of more than 200 core values, and I am going to show you how to get that down to the five or six that are the most important for you.

Once you have established those six core values, measure your big decisions against them. Does one of your choices conflict with your values? Then, don’t do it. Take time to consider the relationship between the values you select and the impact or ramifications of your decision. Your objective is alignment with how you perceive yourself and living by embracing what is important to you.

Here is what you do:

Go through the list of values below and cross out the ones that you don’t identify with. Circle the ones that align with what is important to you. You may find that there is a slightly nuanced difference between some values. If you are having trouble identifying the shades of meaning between words, look them up in the dictionary. Then, choose the one that is more aligned with how you identify, or want to identify, yourself.

Keep working down the list until you get to five or six. Don’t rush. Take your time, thinking about what is important to you. If you get to a point where you are stuck and find it difficult to trim the list any further. Put the remaining core values in order of importance. That should get you to just a handful.

Once your list is done, use your core values in your decision-making process. Evaluate the decision in your life considering how they fulfill or strengthens your connection to the values you’ve selected. Options that are out of alignment with your sense of right living will be easy to discover, and you can eliminate those prospects quickly. Using your core values to make decisions will keep you true to yourself.

Focusing on self-improvement by getting better at things related to your values will make you more confident and centered. Then, opportunities you would have never imagined will come your way. Just as my year of travel found me.

In Conclusion

Living by design emphasizes the importance of making decisions aligned with personal core values. Using your values as a guide will help you to create a stronger foundation from which to live, enhancing your confidence and feeling of self-worth. By eliminating the values that don’t resonate and focusing on the ones that align with your perception of your best self, you can have a clearer understanding of your priorities in life.

The crux lies in evaluating decisions against your core values. That ensures authenticity and self-fulfillment, fostering confidence and attracting unimagined opportunities for personal growth.