Be the person you want to be

What is more important: character or reputation?

Character is WHAT YOU AREReputation is what people THINK you

are

Ever wondered why some people are great people?

Ever had a problem and not known which way to turn?

Ever wished that there was an easier way to make tough decisions?

There is a way…….

KNOW YOUR VALUES

Which people in life are the most respected people?

Those that live to their values e.g Martin Luther King

VALUES guide your decisionsand act as your PERSONAL

COMPASS

They will help you when you are at a ‘cross-roads’, or lost in an

‘emotional desert’

By knowing your own personal values decisions become simple

The only way to feel happy and fulfilled is to live in line with your

values

What are Values?

Many of us think that we know our values…..but do we?

We value our family, friends, money, but this is not a value….

A value is something that our family and friends give us e.g love,

securityYou can’t touch a value!

So what are your Values?

Try these exercises. It will take 15 minutes of quiet thinking time.

Part I: (from Stephen Covey - 7 Habits of Highly Effective People) Imagine you attend a funeral of someone who is very special to

you.You sit at the back of the funeral. It is busy. This person was

obviously deeply loved. You realise that you are the person who has died.

Three people stand up and say what sort of a person you were to them. One of them is a family member (partner, son/daughter,

parent), one is your best friend, one is a work colleague.Write down what would you like them to say about you. What you

stood for, your character, who you were as a person

Part II: Pull out the key words from the speeches that describe you:e.g love, freedom, security, passionate, ambitious, trust,

adventure, health, happiness, competitive, forgiveness, …...

These are your values….they describe the person you want to be. To be the person we want to be…….we need to behave like this

person now

Part III: Write down your top 10

Part IV: Now put them in order of importance

GREAT! You now know what guides you when you make decisions. !

For example: Someone who has freedom and adventure above security is likely to take more risks than someone

who places great value on security

What if you don’t like the order of your values?

CHANGE THE ORDER!Now that you know them, you decide

what is important.

So what next?You now what your values are, and which are

the most important.But do you know what they mean?

For example: What does honesty mean?Does it mean never telling a lie? In that case are you aligned with your values when you tell your child that

Father Xmas is real?

Part V: Take your top 5 values and give them some meaning:E.g ‘Trust’ means that I do what I say I will do‘Freedom means that I make choices based on what I want

You now have a set of 5 personal values, and you have some guidance as to when

(and when you are not) living them

If Values are the cornerstones of great people, they must also be the cornerstones of great

relationships and teams

You can do the same exercise with a partner or team to identify what values your relationship is built upon

Thank you for taking time to complete the exercises

Enjoy being the person you want to be!