Values: An Essential Tool for Goal Setting

Do you know your values?

If you’d asked me this three years ago you would have gotten a slightly confused look and a hastily formulated answer about travel and meaningful friendships. I wouldn’t have known exactly what you were asking me, but I would have guessed it was something to do with things I cared about.

Most of the people I work with are in the same boat. Why? Because values, like beliefs, exist in our subconscious until we begin to intentionally think about them. The thing is, even if we aren’t aware of our values, they are ALWAYS influencing our choices and actions.

One tool, many solutions.

Would you believe me if I told you understanding my values better has improved my goal setting, goal achievement, focus, prioritization skills, time management, wellbeing, and happiness? I promise you I’m not pulling your leg. This is true because values have a powerful influence over every single one of these elements of our lives, and more. The common thread through all of these aspects of life is that they are easier to achieve when we know what is truly important to us.

Values are items of deep importance to you. They relate to the core aspects of how you see and understand yourself. How you want to be treated and treat other people, and how you want to impact the world. We inherit and learn values from our family, communities, and cultures, but we all also have values that are a deeper reflection of who we are as individuals. When we live in alignment with these deeper values we feel fulfilled and “on track”. When we live or act out of alignment with our deepest values we feel stuck, frustrated, guilty, and blocked.

How do you figure out your values?

Go deeper, below the things you know you care about and ask yourself: Why do I care about this? Why does this matter to me?

Ask yourself: what was the driving need behind the choices I made this year? What does that tell me about what is really important to me right now?

I mentioned before that I immediately knew that travel and meaningful friendships are important to me. When I looked deeper underneath those things I realized that ADVENTURE, EXPERIENCE, CONNECTION, and BELONGING were the values that made those things important to me. That I was fulfilling my need for adventure, experiences, connection and belonging by seeking out travel and meaningful friendships. This was clearly reflected in the choices I had recently made.

The average personal has 10 to 20 values, all of which stick with them throughout their lives. However, although values don’t tend to change dramatically, the relative importance of values does change throughout our lives causing them to move up and down in terms of priority. For example, someone in their 20’s might value belonging and adventure but adventure might have the stronger priority. As that person moves into their 30’s it’s possible that their belonging value might become stronger and begin to outweigh the adventure value.

Values and Goal Setting

When we set goals that clearly align with our deepest values we are much more likely to achieve them. We won’t “need” motivation, because a stronger sense of commitment will arise from the value itself.

So, before you start setting goals for 2022, invest some time into getting clear on your personal values. Once these values are understood, make sure there is strong connection between the goals you are setting and at least one of your highest values. This has the powerful effective of getting your brain on board with your goals. Simply put, we are more likely to notice opportunities and take action around things that align with our values because our brain naturally filters our environment to show us more of what we think most about. When we value something we naturally spend more time thinking about it and are therefore more likely to find opportunities for action.

Cool, right?

If you are interested in digging deeper into your values to start strong in 2022, join me in my complimentary Start of Year Masterclass on Values.

“Values: The Essential and Often Forgotten Step in Successful Goal Setting”

Running on January 5th, 7PM GMT (Ireland, UK) 11AM PST (Vancouver, Los Angeles) 2PM EST (Toronto, New York)

Register here!