I believe so much we need to be ourselves, be authentic!
So much!!
Last week I was talking about owning your voice!
It is important to have the courage to stand for who we are, to have the courage to raise our voice even in hard moments. But it is in these moments, that we feel overwhelmed and confused, more likely we start to put other voices in front of our own.
So, what is your voice?
Do you know what you stand for?
What are your values? Have you ever thought about your own personal values?
Going through the book Dare to Lead by Brene Brown, there is a chapter which is – Living into Our Values, and there is a 5-step exercise to define our values, and honestly! I am still on it! Not an easy task.
Brene Brown, says you can’t live your values if you can’t name it! 😊
I am a corporate girl for all my working life.
I had the luck to be part of an organization that has very well-defined company values, which actually I truly believe. But I didn’t have to think about them! They were presented to me!
The values of my company make all sense! Actually, some people say they are only common sense, not really values!
But here comes the challenge!
To be grounded to who you are, to build your brand, to own your voice every time, every moment in your life, it is needed to define your values, like Brene says, “take care of our intentions, words, thoughts, and behaviors aligned with those beliefs. And more than profess our values, we need to practice them”.
“We have only one set of values. We don’t shift our values based on context. We are called to live in a way that is aligned with what we hold most important regardless of the setting or situation”.
Check the list of values from the book Dare to Lead. Choose two values?
Hahaha!! Can you do it?
I can’t!! It is impossible!
But looks like it is normal! So then take a list of 10 values first!
My 10-values list after so much “check and uncheck” the box, are:
- Integrity
- Courage
- Inclusion
- Respect
- Fairness
- Curiosity
- Growth
- Optimism
- Connection
- Fun
The questions instructed to make the decision about the values are:
“Does this define me?”
“Is this who I am at my best?”
“Is this a filter that I use to make hard decisions?”
If I think about the Fun value and the question “I use to make hard decisions” … I immediately say! Of course not! But if the value Fun means the people around me having a good time, I am the one who thinks and behaves like that! Just thinking about my children, I give everything for a good laugh, and I feel so good when I have it at my home! So, I let it for now in my top 10 list!
It requires time to reflect in each of these values to understand what are the 2 of my definition! So, don’t worry if you can’t decide right now, just give a start!
I asked to my husband to do it, and he said, “we need time to think through this!”.
It is true, we need time to do it properly, but the trigger is real, as the subject already came up several times in our conversations.
I said to myself that I will take the time I need to go through my values. Not sure if it is a month more, 6 months or a year.
For now, it is a good start to think about it, be aware, challenge ourselves to build our foundation and be consistent with it no matter what!
Take the challenge!
Thank you
AnnaJo
