Choosing a Value to Focus on this New Year

Values are expressions of our core beliefs and principles that guide our decisions and behaviors, both consciously and unconsciously. They serve as the driving force and motivation behind our actions, offering a powerful framework for making choices. As the new year unfolds, it presents an opportunity to envision how we want to show up, the energy we aim to embody, and the fresh choices we wish to make. Selecting a theme for the year centered around an aspirational value supports us in our direction to live with a greater purpose, providing the motivation and strength to persist even during moments of doubt.

Where Do Our Values Come From?

Understanding the origin of our values is crucial. Our values are often unconsciously influenced by a variety of factors such as culture, family (inherited values passed down by parents, and grandparents), religion, formal education, social influences (friends, peers, colleagues), media (tv shows, books, social media), personal experiences (adversities, successes, trauma), and even historical events like wars, social movements, and other cultural shifts.  Our values are unique to us and while some values stay consistent throughout our lives (our core values), some values shift and change as we shift and change.  Some values become more important, and more focused, in certain times of our lives through new experiences brought on by crisis, relationship dynamics, parenthood, work, grief, loss, exposure to new cultures, and personal achievement.

Why Explore Our Values?

Values can help us in our decision-making. They can serve as a compass and guide us toward making choices that align with our ethics and morality. When we’re aware of our values, we can choose to create healthier habits and be more consistent in our behavior, which contributes to our sense of integrity or ‘walking the talk’.   When we know our values, we are more likely to be aware of when we – or others - are acting out of alignment with our values.  We can use values as a common language between partners, parents and children, teams, and even friends.  Understanding our values, and being able to recognize those of others, can support us in communicating effectively through conflict resolution and by helping each other stay focused on what truly matters.

How to Name Values?

The easiest way to understand and name your values is to review a compiled list of values. There are many lists you can explore online by doing a Google or Pinterest search. Once you’ve read through them, sit with them, and choose a few that speak to you. Ask yourself why are they important to you. What's their origin story? What would happen if they didn't exist in your life?

Another option is to explore the experiences and situations that really upset and activate you – the ones that make you so angry you have physical reactions.  Ask yourself why these types of situations bug you.  What values are not being lived or are vehemently being disregarded?  There’s value (pun intended) in doing both exercises alongside a coach who can guide you as you dive deeper into exploring your values. This can be a rewarding and powerful way to gain more insight into who you are, what's important to you, and how you can use values to navigate toward your goals.

How to Choose an Aspirational Value:

Now that we have the basis, let’s explore how to choose a personalized aspirational value for the new year- one that you want to focus on and live more fully. You may wish to have the values list from above at your fingertips as you go through the questions below. I also invite you to write down the answers in a journal or somewhere you can review periodically throughout the year.

Imagining Yourself in the New Year:

• Is there a theme you want to explore this year? (e.g., Power, Fun, Abundance, Adventure)

• What words describe who you want to be? (e.g., Vibrant, Strong, Peaceful, Grateful, Brave)

• What energy do you want to experience? (e.g., High energy, Calm energy, Balanced, Purposeful)

• What are some of the activities or experiences you want to have? (e.g., Take a trip, Get out of debt, Connect more with loved ones) What values might you need to support these activities?

Exploring Life Categories:

Using the following categories, choose the area(s) that you want to lean into more this year. Which values are associated with the categories you choose? For example, you might choose Physical Health as a category and may choose “Perseverance” or “Fun” as values you want to incorporate.

• Physical Health

• Mental and Emotional Wellbeing

• Professional Development

• Education

• Financial

• Community

• Spiritual

• Outdoors

• What else?

Reflecting on Themes and Words:

After reviewing all the above, notice any themes or words that keep coming up. Ask yourself, are there some words or values that are close to what you want but maybe some synonyms might have a more meaningful connotation for you? What's the history of the word? What is the root meaning? As you start to narrow down your words, which ones get you excited? Which ones feel powerful and deeply aligned, as if they are meant for you? Which ones give you energy?

Taking Ownership of Your Value:

Ask yourself how you might use your chosen values in the year ahead. Take a test drive by applying them to real-life situations where you have a choice to make. Ask yourself, “In this situation, am I moving towards my X value or away from it?”.

Once you have a value (or two), make it your own and have some fun with it: what colour would you associate with it? If it had a smell or taste, what would it be? What are the activities that could bring this value to life? Do you need to write it down? Could you create some sort of artifact as a reminder? How can you apply this value to be more discerning in what you stream online, what social media accounts you follow, and who you surround yourself with? How will this value inform your year?

You may wish to share your New Year's value or you may want to keep it to yourself. Remember, the purpose of choosing an aspirational value for the upcoming year is to support you and your year ahead- to create something that has meaning for you.  If you notice that you are being hard on yourself because the value feels so out of reach, give yourself permission to pivot and choose something that feels more in alignment. 

Choice, choice, choice: You have choices in how you choose to live this year, so start as you mean to go on.  

If you have found this beneficial, consider sharing this exercise with friends, colleagues, or even with your kids.  Wishing you an inspirational, fulfilling, and values-driven year ahead!