A little internal work makes the external work all the more enjoyable

·        Are you tired of putting your armour on to get through the work week? 

·        Do you have to put your big boy or girl pants on to go to work? 

·        Do you have to put your war paint on to earn a living?

Does a day at work leave you cold? Do you return home after a week of work exhausted? Are you living your life for the weekend?

What if you no longer needed to put the armour or war paint on and you could leave your big boy or girl pants at home?

I’m not suggesting it is a silver bullet however I do believe there is a great missed opportunity in understanding your personal values. So what do I mean by values? I believe they can be a wonderful internal guidance system to help you navigate the many decisions you have to make everyday. I believe they can be one of the most important structures to help you answer the question who am I. This creates a foundation to live authentically. Living authentically frees so much energy and invites in so many desirable emotions and makes it easier to live with the undesirable ones. 

Making decisions more easily can lead to taking more action, taking more action can lead to creating more outcomes, creating more outcomes leads to adding more value, adding more value means you and the world around you values you more. Valuing you and being valued by others makes it a whole lot easier to leave the armour and big boy or girl pants at home and the war paint in the bathroom.

OK breathe and get off your soap box Brian. I have launched into the benefits of but what are values? To value something means to place importance upon it. Anything you hold dear can be called a value. Apply this thinking to the emotions you wish to feel and experiences you wish to have and your internal compass is taking shape.

In the context of work so many people share a desire to work for a company that feels good or feels right or has a good culture. Why wait until after you have started to hope you feel something, something you can’t quite put your finger on but will know when you feel it? I encourage you to explore this really important element of work through values. Get clear on your values, the company’s and those of your team. This environmental influence will have a massive impact on your ability to live by your values. It can also be a powerful influence on performance for both individuals and teams.

Dr John Demartini says that the values you live can be identified by reflecting on the last week or month pinpointing what you made time for, what you spent money on and in that special place for you what it is you surround yourself with? Go on take a moment, reflect and write it down.

You can also be aspirational and brainstorm all that you value to shape who it is you want to be. Go big before you consolidate. Choosing your values, defining them, setting rules to experience them and standards to experience them often enough is a great road map to live through your values. 3-5 values with 3-5 rules each is more than enough.

So do the work, the internal work to get clear on your own personal values and make your external work, the 9-5, the Monday to Friday a place you feel valued and provide great value to a community that is meaningful for you.

Brian Klindworth is a Life Strategist working with individuals to create more wow in their life and make transitions in their work.