Hey there! Let's talk about the power of recalibrating your values and how it can open up new opportunities in your career and life.
We all know that where we focus our attention, energy flows, right? But how do we actually use this as a practical tool for change?
Let me share a real client's story from one of our coaching sessions (with permission, of course). Meet Jessy (not her real name). She wanted to become more efficient with her time after transitioning into a new role that required learning new skills.
Jessy allocated time on a Sunday to work on research for a program launch. Initially, things went smoothly, and she didn’t feel any sense of urgency as assumed she had plenty of time. But, as the task progressed, she realized it was more complex than expected. Despite working late into Monday and Tuesday evenings, the piece wasn't finished. It wasn't a one-off case for Jessy. She struggled with the worklife balance for years as the work dominated her life. This time was just a last drop. Missing a family Sunday outing and cuddle time with her daughter left a bitter feeling with her, painful enough for Jessy to look at the root cause of it.
During our session, we discovered that it wasn’t so much about Jessy’s action strategies but rather her beliefs and values that were driving her behavior and affecting the outcome not only in her work but in her personal life as well. She was so focused on the quality of her work that she neglected other important aspects of her life like family time and exercise. Ultimately, she was compromising on the quality of her life.
Not all values are created equal.
Values are the backbone of who we are – they drive everything we do. We form whole belief systems to support or protect our value system. Our belief system then creates behavioral strategies to express or experience these value states.
But the problem arises when we outgrow our belief system. It simply doesn’t serve us anymore or we confuse “Instrumental Values” with “Ultimate Values”.
In Jessy’s case, quality of work is an instrumental value. It serves as an instrument to experience higher core value of quality of life. Other examples of instrumental values are ambition, capability, courage, responsibility, perfection, intellect.
Revising the hierarchy of values created the real breakthrough for Jessy and gave her own personal time management strategy.
So, next time you feel stuck or overwhelmed, take a moment to reflect on your values - they might just hold the key to unlocking new opportunities in your career and life!
