"A Home without a cat, and a well-fed, well-petted and properly revered cat, may be a perfect home, perhaps, but how can it prove it's title?"
— Mark Twain
A key element of "knowing thyself" is sorting out what's really
important to you. Without a clear sense of our personal principles
and priorities, it's almost impossible to bring the picture of our
preferred future or vision sharply into focus. Investing time and
effort to uncover and articulate our personal principles has many
important benefits:
Values need to be considered when planning your career because they will influence your choice of occupation, company, corporate culture, work-family balance, and social and community involvement.
From the list of values, select the ten-twelve that are most
important to you-as guides for how to behave, or as components of
a valued way of life. If you find yourself picking more than
ten-twelve, narrow your set to only the top ten.
One way to make this determination is to mark each value in the
list as High (prized), medium (sometimes), or low (not
particularly important) in terms of your life. Then count the
number of "High" marks. If there are more than ten, reconsider
which of these are less important to yyou. Cut the list down to
ten to twelve.
Prioritize the list with your most important value at the top.
There are many references available to learn more about personal values.
Here are only a few:
WORK LIFE BALANCE: A job that allows me adequate time for my
family, hobbies and social activities.
LOCATION: Find a place to live (town or geographic area)
conducive to my lifestyle, a desirable home base for my leisure,
learning and work life.
INDEPENDENCE: Be able to determine the nature of my work without
significant direction of others. Not to follow instructions or to
conform to regulations.
EXERCISE COMPETENCE: Demonstrate a high degree of proficiency in
job skills and knowledge; show above average effectiveness.
WORK ALONE: Do projects by myself, without any amount of contact
or input from others.
PRECISION WORK: Deal with tasks that have exact specifications
that require careful, accurate attention to detail.
STRUCTURE & PREDICTABILITY: Do work with a high level of
structure and predictability.
KNOWLEDGE: Engage myself in pursuit of knowledge, truth and understanding.
CREATIVITY: Create new ideas, programs, organized structures or
anything else not following format developed by others
CHALLENGING PROBLEMS: Engage continually with complex questions
and demanding tasks, trouble shooting and Problem solving as a core
part of my job.
PRACTICALITY: Be involved in work that yields a practical or
useful result.
ADVANCEMENT: Be able to get ahead rapidly, gaining
opportunities, for growth and seniority from work well done.
AFFILIATION: Be recognized as a member of a particular organization.
CHALLENGING PROBLEMS: Engage continually with complex questions
and demanding tasks, trouble shooting and Problem solving as a core
part of my job.
CHANGE AND VARIETY: Have work responsibilities frequently
changed in content or setting.
COMMUNITY: Live in a town or city where I can meet my neighbors
and become active in local politics or service projects.
COMPETITION: Engage in activities, which pit my abilities against others.
CREATIVITY: Create new ideas, programs, organized structures or
anything else not following format developed by others
DIVERSITY: Work in a setting that includes individuals of
diverse religious, racial or social backgrounds.
ENVIRONMENT: Work on tasks that have a positive effect on the
natural environment.
EXCITEMENT: Experience a high degree of stimulation or frequent
novelty and drama on the job.
EXERCISE COMPETENCE: Demonstrate a high degree of proficiency in
job skills and knowledge; show above average effectiveness.
FAST PACE: Work in circumstances where there is a high pace of
activity and work is done rapidly.
FRIENDSHIPS: Develop close personal relationships with people as
a result of work activity.
FUN AND HUMOR: Work in a setting where it is possible (and
appropriate) to joke and have fun.
GROUP & TEAM: Work with a group to obtain team (rather than
individual) results.
HELP OTHERS: Be involved in helping people directly, either
individually or in small groups.
HELP SOCIETY: Do something to contribute to the betterment of the world.
HIGH EARNINGS ANTICIPATED: Be able to purchase essentials and
the luxuries of life that I wish.
HONESTY & INTEGRITY: Work in a setting where honesty and
integrity are assets.
INDEPENDENCE: Be able to determine the nature of my work without
significant direction of others. Not to follow instructions or to
conform to regulations.
INFLUENCE PEOPLE: Be in a position to change attitudes or
opinions of others.
JOB TRANQUILITY: Avoid the pressure and the "rat race" in my job
role and work setting.
KNOWLEDGE: Engage myself in pursuit of knowledge, truth and understanding.
LOCATION: Find a place to live (town or geographic area)
conducive to my lifestyle, a desirable home base for my leisure,
learning and work life.
MAKE DECISIONS: Have the power to decide courses of action,
policies, etc. It is mostly a judgment job.
POWER AND AUTHORITY: Control the work activities or destinies of others.
PRACTICALITY: Be involved in work that yields a practical or
useful result.
PRECISION WORK: Deal with tasks that have exact specifications
that require careful, accurate attention to detail.
PROFIT, GAIN: Have a strong likelihood of accumulating large
amounts of money or other material gain through ownership, profit
sharing, commissions, merit increases, etc.
PUBLIC CONTACT: Have a lot of day-to-day contact with people.
RECOGNITION: Get positive feedback and public credit for work well done.
SECURITY: Be assured of keeping my job and a reasonable financial reward.
STABILITY: Have a work routine and job duties that are largely
predictable and not likely to change over time.
STATUS: Impress or gain the respect of friends, family and
community by the nature and/or level of responsibility of my work.
STEEP LEARNING CURVE: Be presented with new, unique or difficult
tasks to be quickly mastered.
STRUCTURE & PREDICTABILITY: Do work with a high level of
structure and predictability.
SUPERVISION: have a job in which I am directly responsible for
work done by others.
TRADITION: Be involved in work that is consistent with the
social traditions in which I was brought up.
WORK ALONE: Do projects by myself, without any amount of contact
or input from others.
WORK LIFE BALANCE: A job that allows me adequate time for my
family, hobbies and social activities.
WORK UNDER PRESSURE: Work in time-pressured circumstances, where
there is little or no margin for error, or with demanding personal
relationships.
WORK WITH OTHERS: Have close working relations with a group and
work as a team to common goals.
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