How to Make Better Decisions in Work and Life
You can use your personal values to lead your decision making in work and life.
By Amanda Da Silva, B.Hkin, B.Ed, and M.Ed
3-minute read
Values form the basis of everything we do, including making decisions.
That's why these guidelines you set for yourself should always be under assessment.
Revisiting your moral and ethical stand on specific decisions in work and life is necessary. Things don't necessarily stay the same. Knowing what matters most is essential to living a life of fulfillment.
Who you are is reflected by your actions and words, how you show up and treat others, and in everything that you do. But here's the trick: to live well is to find work that is in direct alignment with these four things:
who you are
who you wish to be
how you want to live
who you want to serve
This is how I came up with my own values mantra: love, live, serve. It reminds me daily of how I want to BE.
We all know people who work in a traditional job. In fact, you might be one of those people.
There's nothing wrong with a traditional job. But so often, I hear the gripes and dissatisfaction of people who dislike their situations. This seems to be more common than people sharing the benefits of the life they lead and the work they undertake.
Each day, we choose to stay in our current mindset, circumstance, or environment because we feel either joy or we feel stuck.
Joy is where I wish everyone to be.
If you're contemplating a change in your life, your values are a great place to start. If you're facing a difficult decision, your values are where you MUST start.
Life feeds us lots of noise, which adds to the confusion and overwhelm in our lives.
Unless we make deliberate plans for ourselves, other people's ideas get into our heads and hijack our best efforts. I want to help you gain clarity around your values so you can make better decisions in your work and life.
Watch the Video and Learn How to Make Better Decisions ⤵
Watch the Video ⤴
5 Tips to Use Your Values to Make Better Decisions
1. Identify your core values.
You can do this in less than half an hour if you follow some simple steps, which you’ll find on my previous blog post.
2. Approach life with confidence in your values and share them.
Your values are uniquely yours. Share your personal values with others. This allows you to form conscious habits, so these values are at the forefront of your mind. It also holds you accountable to yourself and sets boundaries for others to understand.
3. Walk the talk.
It isn't enough to profess our values. We must show up and live our values. They should be reflected in our written and spoken words and in our daily interactions with other people. Our values must guide the decisions we make. That's how we build trust in ourselves and others.
4. Have one set of values.
We only have one set of values if we're authentic. Our values shouldn't shift based upon context. For example, the person you see on my Mindset Mondays videos is same person you'd run into at a Starbucks or in a board meeting. With me, what you see is what you get! I get it—this can feel difficult to achieve.
But the payoff is big: you'll finally feel true freedom. Personal alignment sure does feel great!
5. Practice precision.
Crystalize your values in your mind. It's the hard times in life when we will know and trust ourselves to choose what's right over what's comfortable!
Summary
If you use your values to make decisions, your life will be more fulfilling.
After you identify your core values, share them with others.
Focus on your values and show up as yourself every day.
Lean on your values during tough times, and you'll make the right decisions.
Visualize your values to make them as bright and clear as a tropical coastline.
When in doubt, let your values be your guide!
Wishing you much success on this journey of living into your values, even if it means taking the road less traveled.
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.— Robert Frost, The Road Not Taken
Now, over to you! How do you use your values to make decisions in life?
Share your thoughts in the comments below.
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Hi! I’m Amanda Da Silva.
I’m a mother of two boys, a wife, daughter, teacher, entrepreneur, former CEO, and life-long learner. I’m all about personal growth, community 💕, and being of service. (Find out more about me here.) In addition to being passionate about personal development, I’m an educator and coach with 20-years experience teaching and leading in the BC school system. I have a B.Hkin, B.Ed, and M.Ed, specializing in leadership and administration. Creating community and leading thriving teams are two of my favourite things to do. I also love helping people live empowered and growth-oriented lives.
I hope you’ll join me as we build our success together! 🙌
