Your Career in Uncertain Times

In times of change its important to return to basics. In times of instability it is therefore important to know what those basics are. One thing that is essential in both our business and personal worlds is the clarity that comes from knowing your core values. 
As humans and as professionals we we made up of layers of values and of beliefs about the world and ourselves. They inform how we see events and inform how we act and react accordingly. The differences between our beliefs and our values, put simply, is this; our values are internally generated. Our beliefs, in contrast, have often been handed to us by the outside world. These beliefs arise in our family of origin, our education, our society, from our peers. This means the our beliefs can be changed, set down, moderated or re-chosen at will. As we experience more in our worlds and our careers we can refine those beliefs in order that they continue to serve us.
In contrast, our values are far less negotiable. These, and there may be only three or four core values, are absolutely intrinsic to who we are and what we hold dear. They may well change and shift a little as we grow and develop as individuals, but, they rarely leave us.
Paradoxically, these core values, as influential as they can be, are often invisible to us. We are rarely encouraged to explore what they might be and thus what is driving us forward. There are huge benefits to knowing what they are. Knowing your Core values is extremely motivating. To know why you are heading towards a destination as well as how you are doing so, makes for a potent and successful mix. 
When it comes to decision making, knowing your core values makes it much easier to know which way to turn at each crossroads. For example, When we consider a promotion, to be able to ask ourselves, as part of the decisions making process: ‘does this promotion, in the short or the long term, line up with my core values?’ Will always leave you with a clear ‘yes’ or ‘no’. As the question implies, it doesn’t need to meet one of your core values immediately, but for a ‘yes’ it does need to at the very least be a stepping stone towards a place or job that will.
So this is the benefit of knowing your core values. When everything seems to be changing and shifting around you, be it politically, socially, or financially or personally,  you have a compass by which to measure you next move. That is a very grounding place to make any new decision from. 

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