Recently, I’ve been focusing on what my core values are. Why? Because I’ve found that whenever I break one of my core values, I experience cognitive dissonance. When I’m experiencing cognitive dissonance, it impacts my general happiness as a human.
How do you establish what your core values are? I hear you asking. One way is to go through a sheet of values words and identify which words resonate with you. Then, go through the specified values and rank them in order of importance. An example of a value list is Brene Brown’s list of values.
Luckily, I have done these assessments every few years, allowing me to review what I’ve identified as recurring values over time. These are the values that came up:
Fairness refers to me treating individuals impartially and without bias, regardless of their background or circumstances. It involves ensuring equal opportunities and outcomes and providing a level playing field for all.
Integrity refers to my internal compass around principles and adhering to them consistently. I aspire to be honest, trustworthy, and transparent in all of my actions and interactions.
Growth refers to my desire to grow and develop those around me. To help them develop and challenge themselves, pushing them out of their comfort zone.
Sincerity refers to my value of being genuine, honest, and transparent in my thoughts, feelings, and actions. It involves being truthful and authentic in my interactions with others and having a consistent and congruent internal state.
Continuous improvement refers to my value of improving the systems and processes around me. It involves not settling for the status quo.
Openness refers to my value of being receptive, inclusive, and non-judgmental towards different ideas, perspectives, and people. It involves being willing to listen and learn from others and being open to new experiences and possibilities.
Mastery refers to my value of pursuing excellence and continually improving my skills and abilities. I set high standards and goals and am committed to ongoing learning and development.
Purposefulness refers to having a clear sense of direction, meaning, and intention.
Empowered refers to my value of giving myself and others the tools, resources, and support needed to achieve our goals and responsibilities. It involves promoting autonomy, agency, and self-determination and creating an environment of trust and collaboration.
Trust refers to my value of having confidence and reliance on the integrity, competence, and intentions of oneself and others unless evidence proves otherwise.
Effective collaboration refers to working with others in a constructive, efficient, effective, and mutually beneficial way. It involves communicating openly and respectfully, leveraging each other’s strengths and resources, and sharing a common goal or purpose.
Which gives me the acronym FIGS COMPETE.
