Work is the purposeful application of energy to complete a task that creates value for a community. The value that we create is different based on the needs of our environment and its people. Finding your values will help you produce better work (and create more value for your community).
Grounding our work in core values brings purpose and productivity to what we create. When our values align with the purpose of a project or why an organization exists we become more connected to what we’re building. When we experience low consciousness in our work we are more likely to find our flow and work more productively.
Two of my core values are growth and community. Whether I am learning from failure, coaching teammates to build new capabilities, or leading a team to achieve awesome results, my commitment to growth is at play. Whether I am serving an organization, my neighbourhood, or subscribers, my commitment to community is a driving force.
Brene Brown’s list of core values is a great place to find ones that will resonate with you. As Robin Sharma espouses, finding your values will make you a more focused leader.
Brown argues that we should keep our list of core values very, very short (two or three max). This said, embracing something specific over a short period of time in order to develop a particular habit or capability is important. While it’s not a core value, I will be focusing on self-discipline to start 2022 because, over the last six weeks, I have let some really strong daily habits lapse. I need a quick burst of discipline to get back on track.
What values will guide your practice and inform your goals for 2022?