Personal Core Values 2020: Faith – Family – Work

When did you last evaluate the personal core values in your life? Then, did you work to align your thoughts and actions toward them? How about regular self-checks to see if you are continuing to live by those personal core beliefs? What you believe determines the direction you take in life at home and at work.

WHAT ARE CORE VALUES?

Webster’s Dictionary defines keeping your priorities straight as “to understand what things are most important for one to do or deal with.”

Core values are your inner-most beliefs about yourself and the world around you. They define how you act and what you do. Keeping those values at the forefront of your mind and your planning will keep your priorities straight and guide you to a better future.

THREE COMPONENTS

Looking deeper at personal core values includes faith, family, and work. It may look different for you than it does for someone else, but everyone deals with the job of maintaining all three of these categories of life to some degree.

1. FAITH

Faith is first because you are spirit, soul, and body. To neglect any of these will leave you subpar and not able to take care of family, friends, or coworkers. It is not selfish to take care of yourself.

If you are on a plane, and the oxygen masks come down, you are instructed to first put one on yourself before assisting others.

Examples of these core values are kindness, care, authenticity, and love. What are your core values in this area? Maybe there’s a cause for which you are passionate.

2. FAMILY

Second, comes the family. Remember, first comes taking care of yourself so that you can take care of others. And family comes before work.

I worked under a manager who always took his wife’s phone calls during the day. Everyone knew that if she called, she took precedence over anything else happening. He also left on time to be home for dinner, when his wife and family would have his full attention. 

His example shows how putting family before work demonstrates one of his core values. He made himself available throughout the day and was present at home after work.

3. WORK

Work comes third. How do we put this in the last place when we spend the most time there? If possible, when searching for a job, try to ensure it’s with a family-friendly company

A supervisor I once knew had a strong personality, which helped her with laying down some personal guidelines around her colleagues and to help keep priorities in check. She set appropriate boundaries. She would work hard while there but left on time at the end of the day. 

She always left her work behind, rarely carrying anything home to do in the evening. Not only did she communicate devotion to her family, but it kept away the temptation to sneak a peek at results and emails after she was home. It forced her to prioritize her work, working smarter, and not harder.

WRAPPING UP

Keeping in mind your personal core values, including faith, family, and work, is one way to run a tight core-values ship. Living this way will help steer the rudder of your vessel toward your personal goals. You may go off course at times, but revisiting your core values list regularly can help get you back on track.

Start a list of your core values in a notebook so you can refer back to them often. Or use this worksheet to help you get started.

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