Now that you’ve identified your foundation and asked yourself crucial questions regarding your career and life, it’s time to take a look at your values, preferences, and facets. Are you ready? Great! Let’s get started.
It is so important to identify your values and let them act as a reminder for what you stand for and what is important to you. Not only that, but your values are an essential aid in the job search process. This is because when you’re clear on your values, you can easily identify what is important to you in an organization and its culture and present who you truly are in a networking or interview situation.
I’ve found that when I speak with my clients, the vast majority of their career frustration stems from their values and their companies’ values being too far out of alignment.
For an effective strategy that really gets to the core of your values, try writing a list of 15-30 things that matter and bring meaning into your life. Do an initial gut check and circle the things that really resonate with you. Don’t be surprised if this takes longer than you expect or if it feels hard.
If you’re paused or lingering on a topic, slash it. Don’t overthink or try to rationalize. Do another slash and burn to get to the heart of what really matters to you. You may need to walk away from this a few times, take a break, and make sure it feels right. Once you’ve narrowed down your list to 5-7 items, you’ve found your core values.
Now that you’ve got your values, let’s take a look at your preferences; the how of your best work situation.
Prior to evaluating new opportunities, take a moment and reflect on your best work situation and identify the types of organizations you want to work for. Don’t focus on what you’ve already done, but what you WANT to do moving forward. I’ve seen many people go looking for jobs before they’ve really gotten clear on who they are and what they want and end up in a position similar to where they are now and just as unhappy.
Consider whether you want to work for a small company, or a large one. Do you enjoy working in a team environment, or are you more comfortable working alone? Similar to the exercise above, write down your preferences, slash and burn, and find your 6-8 core deal breakers.
Let’s take a look at which of your facets are craving attention.
What characteristics of yourself are dormant? What qualities do you want to express more in your life? What pieces of your identity have you not had the opportunity to try on in your current role? Think about this as it relates to what you are doing now and what you want to do more of. Is there something that you have never done, but always wanted to try?
The goal of knowing your values, preferences, and facets is to provide you with a roadmap of what’s important to you so that you can show up as your best and most fulfilled self and make intentional decisions about what you want your career and life to look like.
It’s all about seeing where you’re heading, not what you’ve come from. This is the foundation. This is the missing piece. Now let’s get to work!