How do Values in Life Coaching Help Us In Life?
Values are the things in life that mean the most to us – what makes us tick and what makes us have a reason to get out of bed in the morning. Values in life coaching are an essential part of life coaching because they help us to connect with what matters most to us. What has the most meaning for us.
Values are a guiding compass of sorts, for how we view ourselves, our relationships, and the world (as well as our place in the world). Values can be thought of as the driving force(s) behind our motivations and the decisions that we make in life. Many people focus on setting goals (which is fine) BUT goals without an awareness of values is kind of like throwing darts without a dartboard and hoping you hit the bullseye.
When you are working with a life coach, you may not be sure how values in life coaching work or why they are important. Or, you may not even fully grasp what your values are, or even understand what are values to begin with. Let’s go over values and their importance for your life but also how an awareness of values in life coaching can help you get the most out of life coaching (and life).
What Are Values?
In a traditional sense, values can mean the moral ideas you adhere to. Or your attitude towards the world or the people in it. Sometimes, values are also equated to what is considered good or acceptable within a certain group.
But I like to think of values as foundational beliefs about what is most important to you in your life. Think about that for a moment? Do you know what is most important to you? If not, it might be helpful to spend some time discovering what your values are and how they fit into your life.
The four key areas in life that we often see values come into play are as follows:
Personal
These are values that we set for ourselves. Such as empathy or generosity, kindness or honesty. They often dictate how we conduct ourselves towards other people in our life or strangers that we come across (as well as the relationship we have with ourself too).
Relationship
What do you want in your relationships (romantic, platonic, familial, or even work?) Do you value trust? Loyalty? Honesty with one another? Intimacy (could be physical or just general closeness.)? What do you value in relationships and what do you want from your relationships?
Work
When it comes to work, do you value leadership? A strong work ethic? Working well with a team? What kinds of jobs satisfy you and why? What motivates you in your work life? This where understanding values can be very helpful in finding a satisfying career.
Society
These are the values that are important to society or the different groups we find ourselves in. Is it social justice? Helping others? Caring for the environment?
As you can probably guess, all of these areas of life have a huge impact on the kind of life we live. This is where understanding your own values can be very helpful in every area of your life.
What Makes Values In Life Coaching So Important?
You don’t know what to expect out of life coaching. But, maybe you come in with goals. Working towards a new career or job change. Finding better and healthier ways to have relationships with the people in your life. Or maybe you just want to improve a certain area of your life – like being more punctual, or learning to embrace change or even picking up a new hobby.
Are you seeing how values could be important, with any of those goals? Goals set without values are random at best and irrelevant (and even harmful) at worst? Why? Because goals that are set without an understanding of one’s values usually means that the goals set are based on other people’s views of life. Social media does this to us all the time. Seeing images of others constantly, makes us question ourselves.
Without knowing what you value in life, it’s hard to really pinpoint how you can make necessary changes. Or even how you can improve on yourself. Values are important because they are the very core of who we are. What we believe in. How we see the world and the inhabitants in it.
Values help define our legacies in life.
Values give a purpose and “why,” that helps us through the hardest, most challenging times AND help us to savor and appreciate the best times of life.
Maybe you are at a crossroad in your life and you can sense that you are shifting what you value or maybe you just have an unsettled feeling that you don’t know what you stand for but need to figure it out.. That is okay, too. Values do not need to stay the same as you get older and go through more experiences. Life would be pretty boring and stagnant if we stayed the same forever.
So just like us, our values can change throughout our lives. Values in life coaching is an essential part of life coaching that can help you understand what it is you want from life and then (goals) how to get there.
As a life coach, I have a passion for making sure that those I work with understand their values and how it impacts their every day life. I don’t want to just help my clients with their overall goals. My goal is to help you feel supported and prepared for everything that life throws your way, and starting with your “why,” is a great way to begin.
Learn more about how life coaching can help you get clear about your values by clicking HERE. Please reach out to me at my Honolulu or London office to set up an online Coaching Test Drive or click to learn more about the life coaching services I offer
I am a Board Certified Coach (BCC Coach), a Licensed Mental Health Counselor in Hawaii and an Accredited CBT Therapist and Psychotherapist in the UK with over 16 years of experience. My specialties include Life Coaching, Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Compassion Focused Therapy and Therapy For Gay Men
