THE POWER OF PERSONAL VALUES
1. Introduction to Values
A value is a belief, a mission, or a philosophy that is meaningful. Whether we are consciously aware of them or not, every individual has a core set of personal values. Values can range from the commonplace, such as the belief in hard work and punctuality, to the more psychological, such as self-reliance, concern for others, and harmony of purpose. When we examine the lives of famous people, we often see how personal values guided them, propelling them to the top of their fields. For example, one actor was motivated by his commitment to social justice, which led to important acting roles related to that value that made him world famous. Likewise, a well-known business CEO was motivated by the personal value that technology should be easy to use, which caused his company to spawn a technology revolution. Whatever one's values, when we take them to heart and implement them in the smallest details of our lives, great accomplishment and success are sure to follow. Just as individuals subscribe to values, so do organizations and institutions. In fact, if we were to examine any company, we would discover that one or more business values were key to their success. Examples are -- -- Sears' commitment to trusting the customer. [From the 19th century onward, any product could be returned to the company with a money back guarantee, which engendered great trust in both directions, enabling booming sales, and, the great success for the firm that followed.] -- Apple Computer's belief in the values of solving problems of society. [The company created the IPod player and ITunes online music store to overcome a conflict between those who sought to download copyrighted music for free and the music industry which sought to protect its artists and its revenues.] -- Marriott's values of systemization and standardization. [The company created a standard model hotel, and then duplicated it hundreds of time around the world, enabling it to grow incredibly fast, and become the leader of its industry.] Likewise, we see how political parties and politicians subscribe to certain core values -- ranging from helping the poor, easing the burden of the middle class, improving the environment, making government responsive and efficient, engendering loyalty and unity, and so forth. The key point to keep in mind about values is that implementing them energizes everything concerned with it. For an individual, committing to and applying values releases fresh energies, which always attract success, achievement, and well-being. Likewise, when companies or other institutions adopt values, individuals working at the organization become energized, as do its customers, its products and services, and everyone and everything else associated with that organization. We can energize our lives by making the full effort to implement the values we subscribe to. Once we identify values that are meaningful to us, we can develop strategies to implement them. When we make the determined effort to implement those strategies, good fortune it sure to follow -- in the form of new opportunities, new sources of revenue and income, and other forms of material and psychological benefit. We may even notice that as we implement values, we experience instances of "life response" -- where good fortune suddenly comes to us from seemingly out of nowhere, defying our normal perceptions of what is logical and possible. Below is a list of important personal values culled from years of observing individual success. Common Personal Values: Accomplishment, Success Accountability Accuracy Adventure All for one & one for all Beauty Calm, quietude, peace Challenge Change Cleanliness, orderliness Collaboration Commitment Communication Community Competence Competition Concern for others Connection Content over form Continuous improvement Cooperation Coordination Creativity Customer satisfaction Decisiveness Delight of being, joy Democracy Discipline Discovery Diversity Ease of Use Efficiency Equality Excellence Fairness Faith Faithfulness Family Family feeling Flair Freedom Friendship Fun Global view Good will Goodness Gratitude Hard work Harmony Honesty Honor Improvement Independence Individuality Inner peace, calm, quietude Innovation Integrity Intensity Justice Knowledge Leadership Love, Romance Loyalty Maximum utilization (of time, resources) Meaning Merit Money Openness Patriotism Peace, Non-violence Perfection Personal Growth Pleasure Power Practicality Preservation Privacy Progress Prosperity, Wealth Punctuality Quality of work Regularity Reliability Resourcefulness Respect for others Responsiveness Results-oriented Rule of Law Safety Satisfying others Security Self-givingness Self-reliance Self-thinking Service (to others, society) Simplicity Skill Solving Problems Speed Spirit in life (using) Stability Standardization Status Strength Succeed; A will to- Success, Achievement Systemization Teamwork Timeliness Tolerance Tradition Tranquility Trust Truth Unity Variety Wisdom 2. Power of Values to Shape Our Lives In the mid 1970s, I made a decision to move to California from New York City, where I was raised. Why I did so, and why I made other decisive turns in my life is the subject of this essay. My first thought on the subject is that I took these actions simply because I was motivated to do so. And yet, what really motivates us in life are the things we truly value. Then what were the values that compelled me to move to California -- in particular to the San Francisco Bay Area -- where I have resided for these last 30 years? Well, it is true that after five years attending college at frigid Syracuse University in upstate New York I was compelled to seek the warmer climes of California. But I could have moved south to Florida or to the Southwestern parts of the US. However, having been raised in the urban/suburban environment of New York City, I valued culture and a certain type of urban sophistication I might not find in those other locales. I also enjoyed being near the water, not only because of its shimmering beauty, but because cities at the edge of the great oceans tend to attract a diversity of people and a richness of culture from around the world. Though climate, beauty, diversity, and culture influenced my decision, there must have been something more specific that compelled me to move to this region. Looking at it in retrospect, I have concluded that I came to the area because of the existence of Marin County -- the progressive community that lies directly across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco. Marin County at the time (and still is) was the prosperous land where many of the creative musicians, artists, and thinkers of the 1970s lived. From the articles and reports I had read while living on the East coast, the people who lived in that region were involved with matters that meant a great deal to me -- i.e. aspects of life that I truly valued. And because I deeply believed in those things, I wanted to be near them; to somehow participate in their way of life. And so I headed out to the SF Bay Area in 1975 in earnest -- and never looked back. But I have still not identified the specific values of the Marinites that compelled me to join them. Let me try to list them for you. For one, the residents were in the vanguard of the changes going in society at the time -- including an appreciation of Eastern culture and spirituality, a concern for the quality of the physical environment, a dissatisfaction with the mindless materialism of modern life, the rejection of conformity of the previous generation, and the development of new forms of music that expressed their new world view. These were the underlying values that drove me to the region. These were the ideals and beliefs that shaped my life at the time, compelling me to venture across country. Each of us is motivated to move our lives in certain directions. That motivation is determined by the values we subscribe to. Our values are thus the formations and ideations of thought, the distinct formulations of understanding that express what we perceive to be important truths about life. These ideals are then reinforced by our emotions and feelings, which turn those mental perceptions into a vital passion that we hope to realize in our lives. Whether we actually make the effort to implement them is another matter. Without values or beliefs, we would be mechanical-like beings, driven here and there by the vicissitudes of life. Without values, we would be creature-like, compelled to action solely by our urges and passions. In this inhuman existence, there would be little consideration for truths we hold dear, let alone implement them to ennoble and enrich our lives. In this reality devoid of values, we would live unconscious lives, without meaning or purpose. On the other hand, when we take to values, we live a purposeful and dynamic existence -- i.e. we become truly human. This being the case, what are the truths of life, i.e. the personal values that you believe in? What are the cherished ideals and beliefs that have shaped your life; that are motivating and driving your life today? Why not take a little time and come up with a short list, and then consider how each has or currently is shaping your life? If we think about it, we will see that people relate to personal values in a number of ways. Thoughtful people are continually thinking about those things they cherish and believe in. Powerful people are also motivated and driven to implement them in their lives. In fact, the most successful people are constantly evaluating their values, and are continually driven to turn them into a living reality. For these individuals, values are an inexhaustible source of inner power that energizes them to no end; driving them to the heights of success, while bringing about deep fulfillment in their lives. Interestingly, not only do values energize us, but when we implement them, it energizes everything they come in contact with! If I apply the value of customer service and delight when I speak with the client, I energize the conversation, which leads to greater response from the person on the other end, who is now motivated to purchase the services I am offering. Also, if I am truly sincere in my belief in customer satisfaction, I create an added value that reinforces and builds on the first one. A combination of values applied to a situation dramatically energizes circumstances, which not only increases the likelihood of success, but turns the interaction into an enjoyable, even thrilling experience. Thus, implementing values have an innate capacity to create more energy, accomplishment, and joy in living. Values are actually a very special power in the universe. It is one our minds can grasp for the purpose of uplifting life. Values are actually spiritual skills -- a divine gift that comes to us from the infinite Source of things. The highest of principles -- such as Oneness, Love, Beauty, and others -- descend from the heavens, and are reinterpreted as values by our minds. For example, the spiritual principle of Oneness is recognized by our minds as values of cooperation, integration, teamwork, and others. Likewise, the universal principle of Love expresses through values of goodness, selflessness, self-givingness, openness, tolerance, respect for others, and a number of others. The last twenty-five years has seen an explosion in an interest in values. Tom Peters' book 'In Search of Excellence' started the ball rolling for values in the workplace. Religious leaders speak of family values, nations speak of moral values, spiritual teachers speak of the highest values of gratitude, benevolence, and self-givingness; even self-surrender to the Divine. Values drive us, motivate us, move life, move us forward -- enabling progress even evolution. Values are what enable life to take the Next Step -- whether they drive our own individual lives in a positive direction; improve the economic, social, and cultural conditions of a nation; or move society forward in its never-ending ascending path of progress. Tolerance, openness, respect for the individual, and teamwork are several great human values, while Oneness, Love, Beauty, and Truth are some of higher spiritual values that they derive from. At certain points, the human and spiritual values come together and blend into one another, expressing through spiritualized human values such as selflessness, self-givingness, and gratitude. Values are expressions of emotionalized truths that when implemented energize whatever they come in contact with, enabling the greatest positive results with the least effort in the shortest period of time -- whether it is for the individual, a collective, or society as a whole. Values are the nexus to our future progress. It is the call of the Divine to the minds of men to seek a better life -- to pursue ultimate delight and fulfillment in life. |