“As you become more clear about who you really are, you’ll be better able to decide what is best for you – the first time around.” ~ Oprah Winfrey
The path to self discovery is paying close attention to what you value in life. When you are happy about something, your values are being honored. When you are upset about something, your values are being challenged.
According to www.dictionary.com, a value is defined as, “the ideals, customs, institutions, etc., of a society toward which the people of the group have an affective regard.”
By definition, everyone has different values. This is because people grow up in different households. People are taught differently. People live in different neighborhoods. And what one person learned was right and wrong is different from what other people might have learned is right and wrong. Knowing this, it is easy to understand why people have different values. You can also be more willing to accept that it’s alright if someone else’s values are different from your own.
As you grow as a person, you might find that the values you were taught do not serve you anymore. And there may be other values that you hold onto. That is the key right there: keep the values that work for your life and get rid of the ones that don’t.
Take Action
Visit http://www.stevepavlina.com/articles/list-of-values.htm to take a look at several general values. Come up with a list of 10 that you feel describe the type of person you are. Have your family and friends also come up with words they think explain who you are as a person. If you agree with your friends and family, put it on the list. If the value does not resonate with you, then do not add it to your list. Remember, it’s all about figuring out who you are. It’s not about others telling you who you are. Although they can be helpful in the process, they can’t define you. Only you can do that.
Once you have a list of about 15 values, take time to think about how you’d like to make these values more visible in how you live your life. If you notice that you are not honoring any particular value, jot down notes on how you might want to apply that value to your life.
Keep these values in mind while thinking about what type of career you want to choose for yourself. Make sure that you do enough research about the career to ensure that your values align with the common responsibilities of your career choice. Talk with someone in that career field to hear about their experiences, keeping your values in mind and thinking about whether there is a match.
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