Gotta Be Something More
Have you ever woken with a gnawing sense that something needs to be different? You don’t feel like getting up and going through the same routine. It may not even be that anything specific is wrong; it’s just that going on as it is seems artificial or somehow insufficient. There’s gotta be something more, you tell yourself.
Kathy, a client of mine, reached this place about six months ago and realized she had never looked deeply at her values. She’d taken seminars and read self-help books, but uncovering her personal and professional values was never shown her. She came to coaching to investigate whether or not to make a career change and we started her sessions through uncovering her Life and Career Values.
As we started with her personal values, Kathy noticed a difference in how she was able to make choices. Yet at first she had asked me, “Why should knowing your values matter so much?” She added she was slightly embarrassed to ask, as if she should know this. I told her that it’s the courageous ones who are willing to look deeply and ask these important questions about themselves rather than just jump into action. I told her that your values are your divining rod that will help point the way to your next change and that along with passion, vision and purpose they form the four cornerstones of her foundation to build her successful change on.
Most of my clients are relieved to discover their own personal “map” of themselves. Yet I told Kathy that many folks don’t begin with this same clarity.
Kathy was relieved to know she wasn’t alone. She was excited to find that choosing her top 10 values among the list I provided her made her feel more connected to herself and helped her decisionmaking.
Tags: life and career change, life and career choices, new choices, personal values
May 10th, 2007 at 7:24 am
I’m starting a new job next week and I realize that if I’d read this before it would have been helpful in my search. I did make a list of things that were important to me, but I didn’t really see them as my "values." Narrowing it down to 10 makes sense too, because there are lots of things I’m interested in. This way I can remember the things that are most important to factor in. (submitted verbally and typed in by CAW)
May 29th, 2007 at 8:52 am
I forget about how important values are and I keep thinking about (and often worrying about) my next steps. I know when I come from my values I feel I have a more solid rudder helping determine my direction.
(submitted verbally and typed in by CAW)