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School of Life Work Course March 2010

School of Life – Values Exercises

Values are the things that are important to you as a conscious choice, but they are not goals. Being

a loving partner is a value, getting married a goal. Values are things you do with your feet, not your

mind, so they have a quality of action. Finally, values have a ‘this is the real me’ quality to them.

1.  Exploring values

•  Who is really important to you in your life? Think of 1 person you really admire.

•  Why do you admire them? What sort of values do they stand for?

2.  Identifying Working Values

•  What do you currently value in your work?

•  What kind of things would make it more meaningful?

3.  Values identification – 80 year old 

Imagine you’re 80 years old, looking back on your life today. Then finish the following sentences:

•  I spent too much time worrying about....

•  I spent too much time doing things like....

•  If I could go back in time, then what I would do from this day onward would be....

4.  Bull’s Eye Exercise

Thinking about your working life today, mark an ‘X’ in the ‘Work / Education’ area of the dartboard

to represent where you stand. The nearer the X to the centre, the closer you are living by your

values.

8/14/2019 School of Life Values Exercises (Mar 2010)

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School of Life Work Course March 2010

If it’s not a Bull’s Eye, can you identify what gets in the way of your living your values? Specifically,

what thoughts and emotions show up for you when you think about living your values?

5.  Values and willingness

From your work so far, think about a work value that really matters to you. Write it on one side of ablank sheet of paper. Can you identify a bold move which you can take in the next 24 hours which

would take you closer to living that value?

Now, think about what scares you about pursuing this value? What thoughts and emotions does

your mind give you when you think about acting in accordance with this value? Write any words

down on the other side of the paper. (If you can, try this later with some of your other top values).

Examine your piece of paper carefully. Living your values means holding them physically close to

you, all the time. But, by definition, it also means holding the things you fear close to you, too.

The question is;If following your values was about carrying your deepest fears,

anxieties, thoughts, memories and emotions with you, would you

still be willing to follow them? 

6.   Summary 

Try this willingness exercise as a way of clarifying a way forward.

What I value in my work career is:

What I’ve been doing that’s inconsistent with my value is:

What that has cost me is:

My commitment is to take the following actions (be specific: what will you do and when).

In order to do what I value I am willing to make room for thoughts and feelings such as: