What are our values? (Part One)

If most of us were asked off the cuff, what our values are, we might be hard pressed to answer, or if we could articulate a few of our values, it might not be that precise or we might forget important ones as we would be collecting ourselves, thinking and coming up with something that made some sense to the person we responded to.

So the question of the day is: “How can we identify and remember our values at all times?” The answer is that it’s indeed possible to precisely define and remember our values by turning them from vague ideas into lived, practiced, embodied principles, and by giving them enough structure so that our mind can recall them under pressure. 

Let’s see how we can do this. We need to start by building a structure that fits how we think, that is in systems, meaning “long arcs” and clarity. Clearly, there are values that feel slippery when asked “on the spot”. It’s also true that if most people can’t spontaneously tell what their values are, they know instinctively they’re there without having named them, organized them, or tested them by telling or writing them down. 

It’s true that values live as felt truths, hidden inside us and not readily available under the form of ready-made sentences. When someone asks, “What are your values?”, they’re asking us to translate some instincts into words, and that’s why it feels so awkward. The solution is to externalize them by using this reliable method that is called the “Three‑layer values framework”. 

Tomorrow we’ll discover what it’s all about, so please, don’t miss that episode!