A good, bad example of personal values are the following three: money, fame, and easy. These three, are widespread diseases. Corrupting the minds of billions of people around the world. Nudging them to think that with money and fame, they’ll have an easy life.
Values are what guide us. Values convey what is important to us in our lives.
But when was the last time you asked yourself: “What are my personal core values and beliefs? What do I actually care for? What do I stand for?”
Not recently, right?
Some fight corrupt corporations and outdated institutions to make essential resources available to everyone in the world. While most others, act in a way to attract as many resources as possible toward solely themselves.
Plainly, some people have noble personal core values, while others’ choice of principles is outrageously poor.
One interesting metaphoric expression in relation to personal values is the following: Values don’t tend to knock, they just show up in your house.1
If you don’t think about your core values, this doesn’t mean that you don’t have any core values. You simply adopted some principles along the way. Which kind of means that the ones you have are probably not the ones you need. Your current values are imposed upon you by someone else.
Maybe I can’t help you completely erase the corrupting beliefs from your system with a single article. But I can try to help you start the process of replacing these cemented beliefs with other, worthy ones.
In this piece, we’ll expand on the topic of values. I’ll share how values changed how I engage with others – in a good way. And also share examples of personal values in life that you can consider embracing.
What Are Personal Core Values?
Personal core values can be considered as your navigating system. An internal compass pointing the way and prompting you to go in a certain direction.
Everybody has a certain set of beliefs already established. But this doesn’t mean that everybody is aware of these beliefs.
Commonly, people who don’t think about values consider them buzzwords. Catchphrases that nerds use to make themselves seem more deep, enlightened, and appear to be better people than they actually are.
Honestly, I was too recently seeing the discussion of values as something pretentious and self-aggrandizement.
Why on earth would one want to bother with discovering their personal core values, when there’s so much Netflix to be watched, and social media posts to be seen and shared?
But it does matter.
Exactly because there is too much Netflix to be watched, and an avalanche of social media content available for sharing, clicking, liking, etc. One should engage in the process of finding what is valuable to him because otherwise… what is valuable to others will transfer and become valuable to you, too. You will never figure out what is truly significant to you. What you should care about because your mind will be hypnotized by the wants and needs of others.
Every time there is a new episode of the “whatever” show, you will watch it because others are watching it and talking about it. And every time someone shares his new designer handbag, you will mindlessly approach the store and get the same overpriced purse to feel fashionable and wealthy without considering the financial consequences.
Preventing the above doomy scenario can happen by outlining your own values. Understanding the importance of values.
Plainly, values are the secret sauce for a fulfilling life and a curing pill removing you from the vortex of what others want.
Discovering what you value will stop you from wasting your time on activities that don’t contribute to your well-being. Plus, place you in the passenger seat so you can finally start living the life you want.
How Are Personal Core Values Formed?
Personal values are formed through a complex scientific process involving the interplay of various neurochemical reactions within the brain. Dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin are released which create a sense of pleasure and reward. It’s kind of like playing a game of Tetris. The brain tries to fit different experiences into the right neural pathways, and the ones that fit the best, form a long-term view – values. All of this happens under the watchful eye of the prefrontal cortex, which acts as the gatekeeper to the psyche, determining which values make the cut and which ones get sent to the recycle bin of the mind.
I am kidding.
Yes, there are probably chemical reactions going on in our brains. And yes, probably we can keep the Tetris metaphor. But value-creation happens mostly through living.
Personal values are formed through a combination of factors such as life experiences, cultural and societal influences, our family and friends, and individual beliefs and attitudes.
Imagine the following conditions:
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Since you’ve come this far, it seems that you are passionate about pursuing depth over distraction. I am too! And while what I’m about to say next probably won’t quite excite you, I have to say it…
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