In one of my last roles before starting my business I completed a value inventory as my organisation was undergoing a major cultural change program.
At the time, I had been becoming increasingly unhappy and dissatisfied with my role and couldn’t understand why, as I really liked my team. The role focussed on preparing marketing and communication material for a business unit and I had no, or very little interaction with stakeholders.
After completing the value inventory, I realised that a core value of mine is to be of service: to help people and have a customer focus. But this role gave me little opportunity to do so. It wasn’t aligned with my values.
When we understand our values, change may need to occur.
When what we do and the way we behave match our values, life and work is usually good. When these don't align with our values, we may feel unhappy and not know why.
In my case, I quit my job and created something that was a better fit.
Knowing our values makes it easier to us to make decisions as they offer a direction to travel in.
Spend some time working through your values and identifying those that are core to you, you will find life and work far more fulfilling when what you do matches your values.