What Are Your Values?

Duane Rollins -

Have you ever taken a moment to write down your values?

Values are talked about and thought about but rarely codified outside of the business world for the individual.

Early in their formation, companies come up with a set of values or principles that will be the guiding light for how the organization operates over time.

Some of my favorite meaningful corporate values are:

  • “Great isn’t good enough. [...] Ultimately, our constant dissatisfaction with the way things are becomes the driving force behind everything we do.” - Google
  • “Capitalism and the wealth it produces do not create opportunity for everyone equally. We recognize that the gap between the rich and the poor is wider than at any time since the 1920’s. We strive to create economic opportunities for those who have been denied them and to advance new models of economic justice that are sustainable and replicable.” - Ben and Jerry’s
  • “Different with a meaning: IKEA is not like other companies and we don’t want to be. We like to question existing solutions, think in unconventional ways, experiment and dare to make mistakes – always for a good reason.” - IKEA
  • “Create Fun and A Little Weirdness.” - Zappos

We should do this same exercise for ourselves.

What About Your Personal Values?

Take a moment and try to codify and write down your personal values.

Make them meaningful, directional, and aspirational. You personal values should reflect how you envision the best version of your future self and help guide you toward that end.

I did this exercise and this is what I came up with for my personal values:

  1. The people who know you best should be the ones that love you the most. Your goodness should be reflective of your consistent actions, not your perception or appearance. Who you are is what you do.
  2. Be good to everyone. Including yourself. And even those who don’t like you.
  3. Don’t get too high or too low. Stay balanced.
  4. If you are upset about something, take action on it. If you don’t want to take action on it, don’t stay upset about it.
  5. Nobody likes a critic or unsolicited advice. Give feedback only when asked or in private.
  6. Don’t make excuses for yourself. Own your failure as part of the human condition and be grateful that you get another chance to do it better.
  7. You only grow by overcoming uncomfortable situations and comfort is antithetical to adventure.
  8. Learn from everyone. You either learn what to do, what not to do, or how to “be”.
  9. If you are going to do something, do it well.
  10. If you are gonna be around others, you might as well be helpful.

These are the 10 values that I hope to live up to daily. I plan to revisit these every 6 months just to keep them fresh in my mind.