How would you define your values?

Your values are the things that you believe are important in the way you live and work.
They (should) determine your priorities, and, deep down, they're probably the measures you use
to tell if your life is turning out the way you want it to.
When the things that you do and the way you behave match your values, life is usually good
you're satisfied and content. But when these don't align with your values, that's when things
feel... wrong. This can be a real source of unhappiness.
This is why making a conscious effort to identify your values is so important.
How Values Help You
Values exist, whether you recognize them or not. Life can be much easier when you
acknowledge your values and when you make plans and decisions that honor them.
If you value family, but you have to work 70-hour weeks in your job, will you feel internal stress
and conflict? And if you don't value competition, and you work in a highly competitive sales
environment, are you likely to be satisfied with your job?
In these types of situations, understanding your values can really help. When you know your own
values, you can use them to make decisions about how to live your life, and you can answer
questions like these:

What job should I pursue?

Should I accept this promotion?

Should I start my own business?

Should I compromise, or be firm with my position?

Should I follow tradition, or travel down a new path?

So, take the time to understand the real priorities in your life, and you'll be able to determine the
best direction for you and your life goals !
Tip:
Values are usually fairly stable, yet they don't have strict limits or boundaries. Also, as you move
through life, your values may change. For example, when you start your career, success
measured by money and status might be a top priority. But after you have a family, work-life
balance may be what you value more.
As your definition of success changes, so do your personal values. This is why keeping in touch
with your values is a lifelong exercise. You should continuously revisit this, especially if you
start to feel unbalanced... and you can't quite figure out why.
As you go through the exercise below, bear in mind that values that were important in the past
may not be relevant now.

Defining Your Values

When you define your personal values, you discover what's truly important to you. A good way
of starting to do this is to look back on your life to identify when you felt really good, and
really confident that you were making good choices.
Step 1: Identify the times when you were happiest
Find examples from both your career and personal life. This will ensure some balance in your
answers.

What were you doing?

Were you with other people? Who?

What other factors contributed to your happiness?

Step 2: Identify the times when you were most proud

Use examples from your career and personal life.

Why were you proud?

Did other people share your pride? Who?

What other factors contributed to your feelings of pride?

Step 3: Identify the times when you were most fulfilled and satisfied
Again, use both work and personal examples.

What need or desire was fulfilled?

How and why did the experience give your life meaning?

What other factors contributed to your feelings of fulfillment?

Step 4: Determine your top values, based on your experiences of happiness, pride, and fulfillment
Step 5: Prioritize your top values
This step is probably the most difficult, because you'll have to look deep inside yourself. It's also
the most important step, because, when making a decision, you'll have to choose between
solutions that may satisfy different values. This is when you must know which value is more
important to you.
Step 6: Reaffirm your values
Check your top-priority values, and make sure they fit with your life and your vision for
yourself.

Do these values make you feel good about yourself?

Are you proud of your top three values?

Would you be comfortable and proud to tell your values to people you respect and
admire?
Do these values represent things you would support, even if your choice isn't popular,
and it puts you in the minority?

Key Points
Identifying and understanding your values is a challenging and important exercise. Your personal
values are a central part of who you are and who you want to be. By becoming more aware of
these important factors in your life, you can use them as a guide to make the best choice in any
situation.
Ethics, sometimes known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that involves
systematizing, defending and recommending concepts of right and wrong conduct.

The Benefits & Importance of Ethics in the Workplace

The Ethics Resource Center reports that non-unionized employees perceive stronger ethical
cultures within their organizations than their unionized counterparts. The non-profit organization
also reports that young workers are more likely to perceive weak ethical cultures within their
companies than older ones. Managers also tend to value stronger ethical cultures than employees
in non-management positions. It is your duty as a manager to incorporate and manage a strong
ethical culture within your business. Workplace ethics are significant to your business and
provide numerous benefits.
Asset Protection
A strong ethical culture within your business is important in safeguarding your assets. Employees
who abide by your workplace ethics would be able to protect and respect your businesss assets.
For example, they would avoid making personal long distance calls using the businesss lines.
Workers can only respect company property when you treat them with respect and dignity, which
makes them feel proud to be working for your business. Ensure that your workers perform in an
environment with integrity and strong ethics. It increases employee pride and discourages them
from stealing supplies or equipment.
Productivity and Teamwork
Workplace ethics is integral in fostering increased productivity and teamwork among your
employees. It helps in aligning the values of your business with those of your workers.
Achieving this alignment requires that you encourage consistent dialogue regarding the values of
your business, which enhances community, integrity and openness among employees. Ethics
enable your workers to feel a strong alignment between their values and those of your business.
They show such feelings through increased productivity and motivation.

Public Image

You earn a lot of respect and cultivate a strong image in the public domain when you make
ethical choices. For instance, you can fulfill your corporate social responsibility by reducing
waste discharge from your business. The public would consider your business to be operating
with honor and integrity while valuing people over profits. Building a strong public image
through ethical conduct also earns you more clients. Customers would develop trust in you and
do business with your organization.

Decision-Making

Ethical conduct in the workplace encourages a culture of making decisions based on ethics. It
also enhances accountability and transparency when undertaking any business decisions. During
turbulent times, a strong ethical culture guides you in managing such conflicts by making the
right moves. It can help you to introduce change successfully in your organization, which can be
a challenge. Ethical conduct within the business sensitizes you and your staff on how to act
consistently even in difficult times.
Ethics vs Values
Every person has certain set values and a certain code of ethics which are very much valued.
Some people who do not know the exact difference between values and ethics often use the
two words interchangeably. Though these two are different, these two together form the basis for
making decisions.
What are values? They are the basic beliefs that an individual thinks to be true. Every individual
has a set of values through which he looks at all things and also at the world. It can be said that
most of the people will never deviate from their values. The values can be said to be the guiding
principles in ones life. Value can be defined as a bridge by which an individual makes a
decision regarding good and bad, right or wrong, and most important or less important.
Ethics is guidelines or rules that are set for a society or an organization rather than for an
individual. Ethics can be defined as a set of rules formulated by a country or a company or some
institutions. Ethics is mainly based on moral values.
Values are very much personal while ethics is very much societal. One can also see that values
and ethics sometimes can be in conflict. Even if one has certain values, he will not be able to

entertain certain decisions based on the ethical codes. Though abortion is considered to be legal,
most people do not approve of it morally.
Resilient
Resilient people are those who face setbacks but ultimately, with perseverance, recover from
them. Try and be strong and face lifes difficulties as challenges; respond accordingly with
action, rather than with fear, self-pity, inferiority or blame. While life can be very challenging, an
important step in becoming more resilient is to develop the habit of positive self talk and to
remind yourself that you are strong and can grow stronger and wiser as you handle lifes
challenges.
Ten Ways to Become More Resilient
1. Build Positive Beliefs in Your Abilities

2. Find a Sense of Purpose in Your Life

3. Develop a Strong Social Network
4. Embrace Change
5. Be Optimistic
6. Nurture Yourself
7. Develop Your Problem-Solving Skills
8. Establish Goals
9. Take Steps to Solve Problems
10. Keep Working on Your Skills

Activity:
50 Questions for Self-Discovery

When You Know Yourself You Are Empowered. When You Accept
Yourself You Are Invincible.
Asking yourself questions is a great way to move into self-discovery and
personal growth. As we grow and change, our answers will too.
There are endless questions to choose from. Here are some to help you
get started. It may help to pick just one and journal about it.
1.

What do I like about myself?

2.

What would I like to change about myself?

3.

Am I more positive or negative in my speech?

4.

What am I grateful for? Do I express my thankfulness?

5.

What are qualities of a good listener? Do I have these qualities?

6.

Who inspires me? What qualities do these people have?

7.

Do I see my relationships as successful? Why or why not?

8.

Am I open-minded? Judgmental?

9.

What do I fear? How can I overcome my fear(s)?

10. Name some of the closest people to you. How do they affect you?
11. What do I really want to do? Am I doing that?
12. Am I physically healthy? In what ways am I healthy or unhealthy?
13. Am I emotionally healthy? How am I healthy or unhealthy?
14. Am I mentally healthy? In what ways am I healthy or unhealthy?
15. Am I spiritually healthy? In what ways am I healthy or unhealthy?
16. Do I laugh? Do I enjoy life? How can experience more enjoyment?
17. What do I believe about God?
18. What do I believe about death and life after death?
19. Does everything happen for a reason?
20. What am I proud of achieving?
21. What is a positive memory that stands out from childhood?
22. What is a positive memory that stands out from adulthood?

23. What is a negative memory that stands out from childhood? What
has it taught me about myself?
24. What is a negative memory that stands out from adulthood? What
has it taught me?
25. Do I see myself as successful?
26. Do I like what I look like? Why? Why not?
27. What is something I am ashamed of? How can I deal with this?
28. Am I reliable? How so or not so?
29. Am I a good friend? How so or not so?
30. What do I regret? How can I deal with this?
31. How do I feel about money?
32. Am I a giver or a taker?
33. Do I care about what others are thinking about me?
34. Do I easily forgive or hold a grudge?
35. Do I speak up or go along with the crowd?
36. If I had unlimited funds what would I be doing?
37. If I had millions of dollars, how would I spend it?
38. If I only had 6 months to live, how would I spend my time?
39. What and who makes me happy?
40. What is something that I want to do but have not done?
41. Do I get things done or do I procrastinate or even give up?
42. Do I trust my intuition?
43. What are some important things I have learned in life?
44. What are my goals and dreams?
45. Where/how would I like to see myself in a year? 10 years?
46. What are my talents? Am I utilizing them? How can I use them
more?
47. What was the hardest time of my life? How has that affected me?
48. Do I feel blessed? How and why or why not?
49. Do I live in the present moment? Live in the past? Future?

50. Is there something I am running from? Is it time to face it?

Making Ethical Decisions: A 7-Step Path

Last Updated: April 1, 2014 2:17:32 PM PDT
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Read these 7 steps to help you make ethical distinctions between competing options when you
are faced with a difficult choice.
Making ethical choices requires the ability to make distinctions between competing options.
Here are seven steps to help you make better decisions:
1. Stop and think: This provides several benefits. It prevents rash decisions, prepares us for
more thoughtful discernment, and can allow us to mobilize our discipline.
2. Clarify goals: Before you choose, clarify your short-term and long-term aims. Determine
which of your many wants and "don't wants" affected by the decision are the most
important. The big danger is that decisions that fullfill immediate wants and needs can
prevent the achievement of our more important life goals.
3. Determine facts: Be sure you have adequate information to support an intelligent choice.
To determine the facts, first resolve what you know, then what you need to know. Be
prepared for additional information and to verify assumptions and other uncertain
information. In addition:
o

Consider the reliability and credibility of the people providing the facts.

Consider the basis of the supposed facts. If the person giving you the information
says he or she personally heard or saw something, evaluate that person in terms of
honesty, accuracy, and memory.

4. Develop options: Once you know what you want to achieve and have made your best
judgment as to the relevant facts, make a list of actions you can take to accomplish your
goals. If it's an especially important decision, talk to someone you trust so you can
broaden your perspective and think of new choices. If you can think of only one or two
choices, you're probably not thinking hard enough.
5. Consider consequences: Filter your choices to determine if any of your options will
violate any core ethical values, and then eliminate any unethical options. Identify who
will be affected by the decision and how the decision is likely to affect them.
6. Choose: Make a decision. If the choice is not immediately clear, try:
o

Talking to people whose judgment you respect.

Think of a person of strong character that you know or know of, and ask your self
what they would do in your situation.

If everyone found out about your decision, would you be proud and comfortable?

Follow the Golden Rule: treat others the way you want to be treated, and keep
your promises.

7. Monitor and modify: Ethical decision-makers monitor the effects of their choices. If
they are not producing the intended results, or are causing additional unintended and
undesirable results, they re-assess the situation and make new decisions.
8.

Five Characteristics of a Good Work

Ethic

While some individuals try to get by doing as little work as possible, others possess a dedication
that leads them to give it their all every day. People who possess a strong work ethic embody
certain principles that guide their work behavior, leading them to produce high-quality work
consistently and without the prodding that some individuals require to stay on track.

Reliability
Reliability goes hand in hand with a good work ethic. If individuals with a good work ethic say
they are going to attend a work function or arrive at a certain time, they do, as they value
punctuality. Individuals with a strong work ethic often want to appear dependable, showing their
employers that they are workers to whom they can turn. Because of this, they put effort into
portraying -- and proving -- this dependability by being reliable and performing consistently.

Dedication
Those with a good work ethic are dedicated to their jobs and will do anything they can to ensure
that they perform well. Often this dedication leads them to change jobs less frequently, as they
become committed to the positions in which they work and are not eager to abandon these posts.
They also often put in extra hours beyond what is expected, making it easy for their employers to
see that they are workers who go beyond the rest of the workforce and truly dedicate themselves
to their positions.

Productivity
Because they work at a consistently fast pace, individuals with a good work ethic are often
highly productive. They commonly get large amounts of work done more quickly than others
who lack their work ethic, as they don't quit until they've completed the tasks with which they
were presented. This high level of productivity is also due, at least in part, to the fact that these
individuals want to appear to be strong workers. The more productive they are, the more
beneficial to the company they appear to those managing them.

Cooperation
Cooperative work can be highly beneficial in the business environment, something that
individuals with a strong work ethic know well. Because they recognize the usefulness of
cooperative practices -- such as teamwork -- they often put an extensive amount of effort into
working well with others. These individuals commonly respect their bosses enough to work with
any individuals with whom they are paired in a productive and polite manner, even if they do not
enjoy working with the individuals in question.

Character
Those with a good work ethic often also possess generally strong character. This means they are
self-disciplined, pushing themselves to complete work tasks instead of requiring others to
intervene. They are also often very honest and trustworthy, as they view these traits as befitting
the high-quality employees they seek to become. To demonstrate their strong character, these
workers embody these positive traits daily, likely distinguishing themselves from the rest.