What Do You Value Most?

What do you value most in life? What truly is most important to you?

Identification and clarification of your personal, family, and business values are important because these represent your deepest held beliefs that usually dictate your behaviors and actions.

When living in alignment with your values, you are more likely to experience greater levels of satisfaction, purpose, and fulfillment. Conversely, when not living in alignment with your values, you are more likely to experience dissatisfaction, stress, and anxiety.

Values also have financial implications. Answers to the above questions are vital prior to putting in place your financial plan. If you want your financial plan to become a reality, your values will need to be in alignment with your goals and your plan, otherwise you are unlikely to take the necessary steps to implement your plan. Therefore, without knowing your values, it is impossible to create and maintain your financial plan.

Values Defined

Webster’s Dictionary defines values as “Something (such as a principle or quality) intrinsically valuable or desirable” and “Relative worth, utility, or importance.”

MoneyQuotient, an educational platform, also provides helpful guidance on the categories of values:

• Principles and standards

• What we hold most dear

• Intangible things that motivate

• Issues and causes

• Personal preferences

• Tangible activities, people, places, or things

Values are developed and shaped through your life experiences – personal, work, financial, social, political, etc. They are not static. Values can change over time as you acquire current information, experience new things, and go about your life. So, it is good to periodically revisit your values.

Stated Values vs. Real Values

Management guru, Peter Drucker once said, “Show me your calendar and your bank statement, and I’ll show you what you really value.” That is right, your calendar and your debit/credit card statements will tell you a great deal about what you truly value in life. We tend to spend our time and our money on the things we value the most.

We might say that we value something, but the evidence might suggest otherwise.

For example, I am going to call myself out here! I say that health is an important value. Yet lately I have not been exercising and my eating habits have been poor! Again, what we say and what we do might contradict each other.

Identifying Your Values

How do you go about identifying your values? If I were to ask you right now what your values are, you might not be able to immediately produce specific values! You might need to think about it. That is normal.

There are several methods and approaches, and none are perfect. But I will highlight one approach that I use with clients at TwoTen Planning.

This Values Exercise is a tool that helps you identify values from a list. You can also add custom values that are not on the provided list. After identifying your initial set, then you clarify the values by narrowing down the list until you establish your top five.

It is ideal to revisit these values periodically or after big life events occur.

Bottom Line

A clear set of personal values provides direction for your life and your money. When your use of time, money, and energy are a direct reflection of your values it brings you greater happiness and well-being. And your values become an important input to developing more purposeful goals and a financial plan that you are excited to implement!

So, are you aligning your money and your life with your values?

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All investing involves risk, including the potential loss of principal. There is no guarantee that any investment plan or strategy will be successful.

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