What are my values?

Every year for the last five years or so, I have asked myself this question. I start my year by reflecting on my values, and from there I build out my goals. My values pretty much always stay the same, or very similar, but I think it's important to reassess each year, and to remind myself of what my vales mean to me. Determining your values can be done in a number of ways. If you sign up for my coaching, you can get a specially designed worksheet from me, but even just googling 'what are my values?' will probably yield some good questions you can ask yourself to get meaningful results.

For me, the words are important, but even more important is the meaning I ascribe to each word.

For example, my values are:

• Love

• Justice

• Integrity

• Growth

• Spark

  
  

Love for me means caring for others and myself. It reflects my care for animals and the planet, my desire to be a good steward of the earth. Love reminds me that I want to come at all situations from a place of love. This means being curious, non-judgemental, but also Nowadays, it also reflects my desire to be a good partner and step-mum as well. Of course, I don't always nail the desires that I attach to this, but the value informs what matters to me, and how I want to show up in the world. Love is my top value, and hopefully informs every part of my life.

Justice is connected to my idea of equity, to my passion for animal rights, for human rights, for advocating for those who maybe can't advocate for themselves. It stems from my belief that all souls are worthy of respect. I do not always manage to treat people in the way that most aligns with this, but that's what the value means to me.

Integrity means authenticity, being myself, but, critically to me, it means living up to my word and being a person of honour. There have been times in my life when I haven't always felt that I've acted with integrity, and those moments are the ones that make me feel sick. Those are the times that made me feel most misaligned. They have therefore lead to the most growth. As a recovering people-pleaser, this is the value that I battle with the most fiercly, and yet, alignment with it is the only way I can feel comfortable in my own skin.

Growth means knowing myself and continuing to strive towards betterment. I want to keep learning, to keep self-examining, to keep exploring, and to continue to grow as a human-being.

Spark is not a word you will see on really any values lists, but it is the one that best fitted to me to capture that feeling of heart joy. The one I get when I dance, when I sing, when I travel, when I connect with others, when I write. Spark, to me, is the joie de vivre, and in many ways, it's what makes life worth living.

What are your values? What do they mean to you, and have they, or their meanings, changed over time?

If anything above resonated and you're interested in learning more about the courses and coaching I offer, send me a message. I would love to work with you.