Uncovering Your Hidden Values: Aligning Your Career with What Truly Matters
Knowing your values, or what’s important to you, can be an important aspect of identifying the kinds of work that you’d like to do.
Our values can be considered under two headings. The first is expressed values. These are those things we’d say if someone asked us what our values were, or what was important to us. They are usually influenced by those around us: family, society, our social identities and peers. We might give values such as fairness or equality, for example. The second category is implied values. These are more personal, but can often be more hidden and subconscious. They tend to be more influential on the choices that we make, and thus it can be helpful to become more aware of them. These might include things such as learning, being with others, or having new experiences. Here’s an exercise which can help you to explore your implied values.
List 10 interests, or activities that you have enjoyed doing recently. Really think about these things – how did you get involved? What are the different aspects of the activity? The reason for analysing interests is that, unlike our work, we’ll generally only do a hobby if we enjoy it! Studying them can be a good basis for deciding what’s important to us.
Now, dig in to what it is that you enjoy about that activity. Detail is key: “Because it’s fun” is not going to be much help! Aim to list as many reasons as you can for each, trying to be as specific as possible. Is it the people? Is it that you’re learning new things? Is it the challenge? That you feel like you’re making a difference?
Now review your list, and see if you can pick out the recurring themes. Can you group any reasons together? These recurring themes will comprise some of your core values. Think about how these values feel to you, and whether they feel authentic.
The last stage is to apply this to your career. Does your current work fit with these values? What about the work areas that you are considering? Think about how you’d like these values to be portrayed in your work.
Doing work, and being in a workplace aligned with our values has a positive impact on our happiness. Working in an environment which has similar values to ours increases our trust in the organisation (we believe in its purpose). It leads to us getting along with others better, with better and happier interactions with our co-workers. And it also leads to better communication between us and the organisation that we’re part of: we’re more interested in the messaging that they are sharing. As such, considering the values which are important to you in your work can be a great tool in finding fulfilling work.