The Importance of Values
Three years ago I started my journey to be where I am today. I didn’t realise my journey had begun, and it took me another year before I really embarked on it.
It started when I sat down with a coach who presented me with 100 words, each on a separate piece of paper, along with an A4 sheet of paper titled ‘What are Values?’. The sheet described values and how we live our life by them. At the time I was unclear as to how this related to me.
I was asked to go through each of the words and select the ones that meant something, the ones that were important to me. Eventually the 100 words were whittled down to 10. These were my 10 values but I still couldn’t put them into perspective or understand how they related to me.
Fast forward another year and lots had changed. We were plunged into Lockdown thanks to Covid and despite being confined to the house, I enjoyed being able to work from home. The shorter commute to the 'office', the ability to plan and complete work with fewer interruptions, a proper lunch break, a walk at the end of the working day. When we were finally able to return to the office I realised I needed to do something different, but at the time couldn’t see how.
I then had to take some time out for foot surgery and would literally have to sit at home for eight weeks whilst my foot healed. I saw this as an opportunity to take the time to reflect and do something for me.
I picked up a book I'd recently bought - ‘Be Brilliant’ by Janine Garner - and started reading. As I turned the pages I came to a passage with the heading ‘Take off the itchy jacket’. What jacket? I don’t have any jackets that make me itch. Then the word leapt out at me - values. Wasn’t that the work I’d done with the coach and put away somewhere? I dug out the piece of paper that had my ten values printed on it. The ‘aha’ moment struck - I could now see the relevance of that exercise and understand why I was struggling.
Within the first week following my surgery, I’d taken positive steps to do something I had always wanted to study - I enrolled on a proofreading and editing course with the intention to start my own business. After starting on the first couple of tutorials, submitting my assignments and receiving positive feedback and results about my work, I started to see my values in action.
The thing is, I knew I had to return to work and put ‘the itchy jacket’ back on. I came to the conclusion that I should write a list of all the positives and negatives of leaving my job. The positives outweighed the negatives 15 to 5. This helped me gain clarity and I knew what I needed to do. With the support of my husband I resigned. A huge weight was lifted from my shoulders.
I concentrated on my studies, graduated with Excellence and haven’t looked back. It hasn't been easy, but 18 months down the track my business is growing and I have worked on some amazing projects with wonderful clients. I am grateful to have been given these opportunities.
If you're wondering what my ten values are, I can’t tell you all of them but three of them are fulfilment, achievement and accomplishment. All of which are being met as I progress and grow my business.
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