Uncovering My Values: A Journey to Self-Discovery
Personal Mission Statement
To constantly be striving to be the best version of myself – in my job, with my health and fitness, with my relationships with family and friends, and with my emotional well-being. My values essay will outline the principles that guide me through life. I believe in leading by example, living a life of integrity, and always striving to be the best version of myself in all aspects of life, including work, health and fitness, relationships, and emotional well-being. Supporting and empowering others to achieve their goals is also a core value that I hold dearly.
Personal Values
The values that are most important in my life are honesty, fire, hard work, confidence, and kindness. Honesty is very important to me because it lays a foundation for the rest of my values.
I believe that if I always deal in the truth, I will live my life with far less worry. Honest intentions in speech and action gain the attention and respect of others. If I spoke in lies, I would be living a life of lies and excuses which is not how I want others to view me. Honesty is speaking the truth but more broadly presenting oneself in a genuine way and acting in a sincere way; being without pretense; taking responsibility for one’s feelings and actions (VIA Character). It sharpens our perception and allows us to observe everything around us with clarity. I will lead with honesty and integrity so that my words and actions hold truth in the eyes of others. Fire pertains to enthusiasm. Also known as “zest” according to the VIA character survey. This means approaching life with excitement and energy; not doing things halfway or half heartedly; living life as an adventure; and feeling alive and activated (VIA Character). Fire is uncontrolled passion and excitement for living life on my own terms. It lights the fire inside of myself and wills me to carry on toward my goals and dreams. I want to live my life with fire and incredible passion as of now and in the future.
As the olympic gymnast, Simone Biles once said “I’d rather regret the risks that didn’t work out than the chances I didn’t take at all. ” I will lead with fire and zest in order to encourage and inspire others to live with their own type of fire. Hard work speaks for itself. I believe working hard, with focus and desire is the key to getting ahead. No matter what I want to do, I have to spend time working on improving that skill. This value goes hand in hand with fire. Doing something with ambition, passion and hard work leads to learning what it takes to be the best. It is important to persevere and try in order for hard work to pay off. I will lead by hard work and ambition as I work towards my goals. Confidence is one of my most important values because it drives the value you place on yourself. I think it is important to distinguish between confidence and cockiness because people usually mistake cockiness for confidence. Confidence is about the faith you have in your abilities, the person you are, and how you view your most important relationship – the one with yourself. Confidence keeps me balanced and grounded. It is a powerful value that helps define who I am. It gives me the strength to pursue new opportunities such as getting my dream job, or presenting in front of my classmates.
Confidence tells the story of who I truly am in the most authentic way possible. It is the representation of the way I want to be seen and how I see myself. I will lead with confidence so that I feel good about myself and the decisions I make. Kindness really speaks to me because in order to form lasting bonds and relationships throughout your life, you must be kind. Kindness entails doing favors and good deeds for others; helping them; and taking care of them (VIA Character). Being kind helps simplify my life, it produces gratefulness, adds a dimension of purpose to life, and allows others around me to grow in the most surprising ways. I believe kindness can enhance the way we work, how and with whom we do business, and creativity of all kinds. I will lead with kindness and love in order to help others grow.
Expectations
Others can expect me to treat them with respect, honesty, and kindness. But I expect them to treat me with respect, honesty, and kindness just as I have given them. This is important to me because I grew up with the saying “treat others how you want to be treated. ” I believe if more people followed this rule of thumb there would be less negativity in the world. But the realistic part of me knows that this is not possible. So the least I expect is that if I treat you with respect, I expect for you to treat me with respect too.
One important thing others should expect is that I do not forgive easily. According to the VIA character survey, my forgiveness score is low on the list which is an accurate representation of that characteristic for me. Forgiveness entails forgiving those who have done wrong; accepting others’ shortcomings; giving people a second chance; and not being vengeful (VIA Character). It is difficult for me to forgive others if they have done me wrong. In the view of others, this may be a terrible characteristic. But I believe that if I acknowledge and own up to this flaw, that is what’s most important because I can now start working on being better at forgiveness.
Responsibility, Attitude, and Approach
My responsibility, attitude, and approach to others will be to have credible behavior. This can mean “practicing what I preach” or “following through on my promises” (Kouzes and Posner). I am clear of my values and will set an example of those values to others. I will be authentic towards others and live out my values in order to demonstrate honesty and trustworthiness. In order to gain and sustain moral authority to lead, it is essential to model the way because of the important connection between words and actions (Kouzes and Posner). I will be a leader that others are willing to follow, and believe in what I have to offer.
