Guideposts For Life

    In The Thinker’s Way, author John Chaffee describes the word “value” as “the general term we use to characterize anything that possesses intrinsic worth, that we prize, esteem, and regard highly based on clearly defined standards.” He continues, “Thus you may value your devoted pet, your favorite jacket, and a cherished friendship, each based on different standards that establish and define their worth to you.” In other words, we tend to think of our values in terms of what we treasure the most in life.

    In addition, values are specific attributes or guiding principles that we highly revere such as “integrity,” “loyalty,” and “generosity.” Values are also the personal motivators that consciously and unconsciously influence how we behave, the decisions we make, and the degree of happiness we experience. These values vary from person to person, but include such intangibles as recognition, challenge, prestige, harmony, security, freedom, and creativity.
   
    Lou Tice states in Smart Talk for Achieving Your Potential that each person who chooses to be centered and strong needs to identify their own hierarchy of values: “Sort out for yourself what the essentials are, why you are on earth, what is important to you, and what your life is worth. I encourage you to use affirmations and set goals to bring more of those things that are important to you abundantly into your life.”

    In a nutshell, your values are what you identify as being most important to you, and your priorities are those same values placed in a ranking of importance. In addition, your values and priorities can be described as an internal compass that guides both the big and little decisions in your life.