From time to time situations arise in our lives when we lose our bearings about where to go, when we do not quite understand what we want.

What can be done about this?

There are the notions of goals and of values.

What are they, and how do they differ?

Unlike goals, values point out the direction in which it would feel right for us to move.

They are also what gives us strength in times of upheaval.

An example:

Working for yourself — does that seem to you a goal or a value?

The item above is undoubtedly a goal.

Why is it important to us, say, to work for ourselves?

Because we value freedom of action and the chance to give our time first of all to family and to our own needs.

Freedom of action, family, time for one’s own needs — these are the values.

They are, of course, different for every person.

And if for one person time for family and for themselves matters most, for another the value will be professional fulfilment above all, and they will set different goals accordingly.

For example:

Working not for oneself but in a successful company, with opportunities for career growth.

This is why it is so important to be aware of one’s own values.

Here is a short list of values

To understand them better, try adding your own to them:

Maintaining good relationships in the family

Doing something creative

Working on one’s own development

The chance to live by one’s own rules

Travelling

Learning new things

Caring for those close to you

Caring for one’s health…

Values can give an impetus to overcoming difficulties, an extra motivation to do what we do not always feel like doing, or what brings no pleasure but does bring a sense of fulfilment.

A young mother may take no pleasure in the process of feeding a small child while the child smears fruit purée over itself and its clothes.

But she does take satisfaction in the thought: «My child is fed».

That thought belongs to the value system of caring for one’s own child.

Or again, not all of us took pleasure in the process of learning English (homework especially), but we went through with it, understanding why we needed it and what it would give us.

It is precisely thanks to values that, when we land in difficult situations and our sense of where to go and what to do blurs, it is worth returning to an understanding of our own values.

Step by step it looks like this:

Becoming aware of your values.

Choosing and setting goals for realising these values, specifying concrete deadlines, step-by-step sub-points along the way, and a check on how realistic the tasks set are.

AUTHOR OF THE PUBLICATION:

Yurii Karakaptan