Identify your guiding principles for life and business.
What do you value? What do you value in life? In yourself? In others? In business? Are these values at the core of who you are and what you do?
These very large questions (and general contemplation of life) are something I give a lot of time to thinking about. My answers have changed through my younger stages of life but they’ve remained constant over the past few recent years.
I value growth, loyalty, freedom, courage and compassion.
These values help guide the decisions I make and how I live my life.
As a freelance consultant, I also operate with these values at the core of my business. I often ask the good people I work with what they value as individuals and as a business. This is a question I find particularly useful for startups finding their brand identity and position in the market.
For the many startups borne from the heart and soul and guts of the person who founded it, defining one’s own core values often helps ground the business in an authentic place.
Keeping these moral compass points in view help keep me grounded during the tumultuous times and guide the choices I make. Do I wonder about the outcomes of different paths? Absolutely. But I feel happy within myself for staying true to my core values.
What do you value?