What Do You Stand For?
My friends, the journey to achieving Personal Agility starts now… It starts deep within you, with your answer to the following question, “What do you stand for?”
If you really look deep inside of yourself, you will find a set of values that guide your life. Some people might call these values morals, but perhaps they are deeper than that. These are the things that we believe so deeply that they are immutable. For instance, I have a filter that often guides my behaviors… when I am contemplating an action that might impact someone else; I ask myself, “How would you feel if someone did that to me?” This filter has often prevented me from doing things that I would have later regretted.
Sometimes we have beliefs that we feel are our values, but turn out to be only superficial wants and desires. For example, when I founded Braintrust I really thought that I valued wealth above all. Well, despite what you might see on television the life of a fledging entrepreneur is not that glamorous. In my first two years in business I made less money than I had in my previous year of full-time employment. Over those two years I came to a startling realization, it wasn’t money that I was after, it was freedom of choice. The thing that I wanted more than anything else was to have the choice of what I wanted to do and when I wanted to do it. Freedom, not money, became one of my personal values.
Live Agile!
We all need to take the time to do some introspection, to look into our hearts and minds and decide what we truly value. You will have found one of your values when it passes the following test:
- “If I were to violate my value would I regret if for the rest of my life?”
For instance, I personally value commitment. I made vow with my wife to be with her always, I hold this vow very sacred. If I were ever to violate that vow, by leaving my wife, I would regret it for the rest of my years.
By having a clear set of values, a list of items that you will not compromise on, you now have the foundation necessary to being making decisions about your future. Take as long as you need, but be sure to be crystal clear on your list of values before proceeding with you journey to achieving Personal Agility.
Feeling brave? Post what you believe in below in the comments.
