The Importance of Values
The Importance of Values
Transcript
Whether we consciously realize it or not, most of the decisions we make, from our small, seemingly inconsequential day-to-day choices, to our larger, more significant big ticket decisions, are expressions of the values that we hold. This means that even if you're not thinking explicitly about your values, or how they relate to your decisions, your values are still exerting a quiet influence over the choices that you make every day.
In other words, it is virtually impossible to make a decision, intentional or not, that is value neutral. Your choices are animated by your values. This does not mean, however, that most of us spend a lot of time thinking explicitly about the relationship between our values and our choices. The truth is that most of us spend very little time thinking about this, and so even if our values are affecting our choices in some way it is often the case that our values are not as central to our decision making process as they might be. Which means we're more vulnerable to making choices that counter our values rather than coincide with them.
Part of the reason for this, I think, is that few of us have ever taken the time to really think about what our values are in the first place. And even if we have, we've likely done so only in a general or superficial way. Most of us, for example, would probably say that we value family, or friendship, or success, or honesty, but it's likely that we haven't spent very much time thinking about what exactly we mean by those things.
What does it mean exactly to value friendship? What do we mean by that word? And what do we mean when we say that honesty and integrity are values that we hold? When I ask students to identify and then to articulate to me their values I ask them two deceptively simple questions. Who are you? And, what do you care about? Put another way, what kind of a person are you? And what really matters to you?
I realize that these questions are much easier to ask than to answer, but I'm always struck by how difficult they are for most people to respond to, or at least to respond to easily. Given how central the idea of values is in our culture, and given that values are widely understood as a core component of individual and communal identity, it's surprising, I think, that when asked to identify and articulate our values most of us are not able immediately to do so.
It's as if we all walk around assuming we know what our values are without having ever really done the work of identifying them for ourselves or putting them into words for someone else. A crucial step then in any intentional decision making process is being able to identify for yourself, and to articulate clearly to others, what really matters to you. These things are your values.
And some of these values will take the form of big, aspirational words and phrases like happiness, equality, professional fulfillment, or social justice. Other values may sound a little less lofty, but are no less important. Things like living close to family, being a good partner or parent, reducing your carbon footprint, maintaining a healthy lifestyle, or achieving financial independence.
Regardless of which values you hold, it is important to know what they are and to know which of them you value most because those are the things that you will want to have in the very forefront of your mind as you begin the work of making an intentional decision, a decision that honors who you are and what matters most to you.
In other words, it is virtually impossible to make a decision, intentional or not, that is value neutral. Your choices are animated by your values. This does not mean, however, that most of us spend a lot of time thinking explicitly about the relationship between our values and our choices. The truth is that most of us spend very little time thinking about this, and so even if our values are affecting our choices in some way it is often the case that our values are not as central to our decision making process as they might be. Which means we're more vulnerable to making choices that counter our values rather than coincide with them.
Part of the reason for this, I think, is that few of us have ever taken the time to really think about what our values are in the first place. And even if we have, we've likely done so only in a general or superficial way. Most of us, for example, would probably say that we value family, or friendship, or success, or honesty, but it's likely that we haven't spent very much time thinking about what exactly we mean by those things.
What does it mean exactly to value friendship? What do we mean by that word? And what do we mean when we say that honesty and integrity are values that we hold? When I ask students to identify and then to articulate to me their values I ask them two deceptively simple questions. Who are you? And, what do you care about? Put another way, what kind of a person are you? And what really matters to you?
I realize that these questions are much easier to ask than to answer, but I'm always struck by how difficult they are for most people to respond to, or at least to respond to easily. Given how central the idea of values is in our culture, and given that values are widely understood as a core component of individual and communal identity, it's surprising, I think, that when asked to identify and articulate our values most of us are not able immediately to do so.
It's as if we all walk around assuming we know what our values are without having ever really done the work of identifying them for ourselves or putting them into words for someone else. A crucial step then in any intentional decision making process is being able to identify for yourself, and to articulate clearly to others, what really matters to you. These things are your values.
And some of these values will take the form of big, aspirational words and phrases like happiness, equality, professional fulfillment, or social justice. Other values may sound a little less lofty, but are no less important. Things like living close to family, being a good partner or parent, reducing your carbon footprint, maintaining a healthy lifestyle, or achieving financial independence.
Regardless of which values you hold, it is important to know what they are and to know which of them you value most because those are the things that you will want to have in the very forefront of your mind as you begin the work of making an intentional decision, a decision that honors who you are and what matters most to you.