What are these values? For the purposes of this report, value is defined as “the relative worth or importance of something”. Whatever traits or characteristics you consider to be very important or valuable are your personal “values”.
Common values that you may hold:
* Honesty
* Compassion
* Fairness
* Kindness
* Respect
Integrity is simply ADHERENCE to your own code of values. That means being loyal to your own ideas of how things should be in your world. If honesty is one of your values, you would never dream of trying to cheat someone. You simply wouldn’t be able to justify such an action in your own mind. If you did try to side-step your values, you’d feel so uncomfortable that you wouldn’t be able to stand it. The guilt and shame would eat at you until you did what you could to make the situation right again.
Take a few moments right now and consider your own values. What is very important to you regarding your own behavior and the behavior of others? Write them down so you can explore them in greater detail later.
Even if you don’t know why you feel strongly about a particular value, write it down anyway. As you explore your values, you’ll realize that their underlying causes can vary widely, and that’s okay. The main thing is to understand why they are important to YOU.
You may be surprised to learn that many of your values were formed as a result of your past experiences. For example, you may have been cheated or lied to by someone you trusted, and the experience was so painful that you vowed never to do such a thing to someone else. Voila, your value of honesty was born. If you were verbally abused or belittled when you were a child, you may now hold a value of kindness and compassion for whomever you meet.
Once you have your list of values, compare them with your most common actions. Do you ever do things that are in opposition to your values? If you do, you’ll quickly understand why this limits your personal excellence. The feelings of guilt, shame, fear and embarrassment will consistently interfere with everything you do and diminish any sense of satisfaction you would have gained from your activities.
You can also question and adjust your values as needed; especially if you formed values as a result of childhood conditioning that are not serving you now. A good example is the child who is conditioned to believe that money is the root of all evil and selfless service is God-like behavior. This child will likely grow into an adult who resists having any more money than necessary, and struggles financially all of her life.
Questioning and challenging (and ultimately changing) such a value will create a greater sense of empowerment and purpose in her life, rather than blindly living by someone else’s values.
A strict adherence to your values makes for an incredible experience, provided they are values that serve your highest good, and the highest good of others. Not only are you able to feel good about your day-to-day actions, you are able to keep growing and developing as a person. In other words, expanding your personal excellence!
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