Having done a psychometric assessment with Marc the week before (which totally blew me away), my second session with him was to do a 'values' exercise.
I knew that identifying your values was useful when figuring out what you want from your new career (we even have a section on it in the Careershifters Guide) but I had no idea quite how powerful it could be and I'd never put them into practice in the way Marc was about to get me to do.
Identifying my values, the first part of the exercise, was very straight forward and I had my 6 values nailed pretty quickly. The first thing to surprise me was the emotional reaction I had when I finally looked down at that tiny list of 6 words that effectively summed me up and everything that I was about. It was as if I'd been stripped bare and underneath everything, right at my core, were these 6 simple words. There I was, in essence and it really did feel like 'this is me'.
We then talked in length about each of my values and what each of them meant to me. I would have said before 'well of course I know what's important to me' but actually how often do any of us ever really become fully aware of what those things are or why. For the first time I was actually putting it all into words and seeing my life in a new light - clearer and simpler.
The next step was to see where these values were or were not present in the areas of my life and the impact of that. That's where things got really interesting - it became immediately apparent where my values weren't present in certain areas of my life and why, as a result, I was feeling lonely, drained, frustrated etc. in those areas.
To give you a work example, two of my values - laughter and friendship - weren't present in my work life at the time. I love the work I do (as Careershifters' Content Director) as I think everyone knows, but I was working from home with noone else around me. It left me feeling lonely, disconnected and drained. So Marc and I brainstormed about ways that I could bring friendship and laughter into my working day - finding other people to work with that work from home, or meeting up with people for lunch a couple of times a week. I got straight on it, called a few friends and by the following week I was getting out and about, working from cafes, the Royal Festival Hall, meeting up with friends to work together or just for a coffee. Friendship and laughter were back in my worklife and within a week I was enjoying work so much more. It was so simple but made such a big difference.
So how does this help when you're changing career?
Well, your values can be used as a powerful measure when you're exploring your new career options - will that particular career allow you to have all of your values present in your work? If not, then it probably isn't the career for you. For example if you look at my values you could easily come up with a list of careers that would and wouldn't suit me - a job in a city accountancy firm, for example, probably wouldn't, but it explains why working on my friends converted chocolate and icecream van at festivals suited me to the ground!
I would actually recommend working out your values for anyone no matter what stage of career change you're at. If you're right at the start then it helps you figure out what key values need to be part of your new career choice and if you're already making the change then identifying your values, if you haven't already done so, can really help you in creating a strong personal brand and unique selling point that feeds into your CV, business brand, interview presentation etc. - all the things you need when selling yourself which you have to do when getting your hands on that new career.
A few months later...the impact that values exercise has had
I did that values exercise a few months ago now and I realised the other day, as I watched participants at a Careershfiters workshop doing the same exercise, how much those values are now hugely present in my life and probably one of the reasons why I am so happy at the moment. I really, genuinely, feel incredibly fulfilled in life, like there's nothing missing. It's not that I've been going around with my list of values assessing every area of my life and making a conscious effort to bring my values into everything I do, it's more that simply having identified them and putting them on a post-it note on my wall, I've been drawn to the things that embody those values: creativity, play, laughter, friendship, living your dreams and love for others. My life's full of them now.
Do the values exercise with Marc:
If you want to do this particular values assessment with Marc Jerrard as part of his one-to-one coaching package then you can email him at marc@careerrevolution.co.uk or call him on 07920 521600
Do the values exercise with Marc at the Careershifters Workshop:
You'll also do this values assessment if you come to the"Careershifters Workshop #1: How to discover what you really want from your new career". Combined with other key tools and exercises - you'll be well on your way to nailing exactly what you want out of your new career. Find out more about this workshop and others.
