Career REinvention – Dream BIG!: Understanding Your Values

Career REinvention – Dream BIG!
By Susan Guarneri


Understanding Your Values

1. Your values frame how you perceive yourself and others. They are the standards against which you measure your feelings and behaviors/activities, as well as the behaviors of others.

2. Values are closely tied to your career and life goals. Whether the choice is about a career, leisure activities, or even a spouse, values-based decision-making will more likely lead to a satisfactory outcome.

3. When your values are in conflict with each other, it becomes more difficult to make confident choices. Coping mechanisms, such as procrastination, may arise.

4. Your values are essential for “best-fit career” decision-making. They provide criteria for you to use as benchmarks when evaluating possible career choices.

5. Try to satisfy at least two or three of your most important values when you choose a career or job. However, do not make a career choice only based on values. Other critical components include your motivated skills, interests and passions, personality type, non-negotiable needs, and professional and life goals.

6. Decision-making without consideration of your values is likely to go awry. In fact career dissatisfaction often results from values conflicts in your job function (role) and work environment.

7. When your values are in conflict with your career, work situation, or other people, negative emotions, such as stress, anxiety, frustration, anger, and depression, can abound.

8. Your values tend to remain stable throughout your lifespan. But some values may be more important than others at certain times in your life because of your changing life situations and life roles.

9. There are two kinds of values: intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic values, such as Creativity and Ability Utilization, are inherent in actual activities. Extrinsic values, such as Economic Rewards and Prestige, relate to the outcomes of activities. Most often we possess a mixture of intrinsic and extrinsic values.

10. Top-priority values may be satisfied through one role, such as in your job, or via multiple roles in all aspects of your life. For example, if Economic Rewards, Altruism, and Creativity are your top values, your job may fulfill Economic Rewards, a community service role may satisfy Altruism, and a fiction-writing hobby could provide opportunity for Creativity.



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