This month, Nadia Ahmed discusses the importance of understanding your core values and living in alignment with them.
A value is a belief or principle which drives our actions and behaviours.
Our values are the core of our subconscious being and our life map. If our values are not clearly defined in our minds, we cannot live in alignment with what is truly important to us. If we make decisions without understanding if these decisions are in alignment with our values, ultimately this can lead to uncertainty, doubt or lack of contentment.
One of the first key exercises with a life coach is to determine your values and life map. This is an incredibly powerful tool to create self-awareness and aid decision-making to progress in all areas of life. We are often faced with a number of choices when making a significant life decision and need to navigate the decision-making process.
When you know your values, you can make better choices. For example, if two of your values are peace and balance, decisions should be made that bring these two elements into your life.
Identifying your common core values
You may be wondering ‘how do I identify my values?’
In order to determine your value base, consider the following list which includes some of the more common values and choose between three and five that resonate the most from your ‘gut feeling’ or subconscious mind.
This list is not exhaustive but will give you a good idea of some common values. My recommendation is to choose no more than five, as if there are too many, then it becomes difficult to identify what is really a priority.
When doing this exercise, I am fairly certain you will find that you wish to choose more than five. You could also narrow down the list by comparing two values and asking yourself which one you absolutely could not live without.
A tip to choosing only five or less is to ask yourself the following:
- What do you care about most in your life?
- What is important to you?
- What can you remove from your life and still be true to yourself?
By evaluating what you don’t wish to have, this can highlight what your true values are.
How do our values play a part in our career choices?
Many of us will relate to the reality of choosing a job role that may not really fit in with our values but ignoring the subconscious mind and pursuing what may seem like the right role for the wrong reasons.
For example, if one of your top core values is ‘family’ but you are in a role that involves a long commute to your workplace and time away from your children, this would clearly not be in alignment with your values.
Ultimately, as busy dental professionals, we must be sure to make career decisions for the right reasons in order to have harmony and contentment.
Observing my values
Health (wellbeing) and faith are two of my core values. When evaluating if a job role is right for me while ensuring I remain true to my values on a daily basis, I would want to ensure I have a working pattern that enables me to incorporate a daily walk and have time for healthy eating, as well as observing praying regularly as a Muslim by faith.
Throughout my years of training, it has been difficult to balance the demands of studying, working and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. I recall working many late nights at the dental hospital as a trainee, especially in the months leading up to important exams, relying on takeaways with no time for the gym, often catching up on admin through lunch time with little time to observe regular prayer. For anyone with upcoming exams or assignments reading this, I promise this time will pass and the end goal is in sight!
I am pleased to say my routine is now far from this. Allowing enough time for a lunch time walk is now a priority, even if only for 10-15 minutes. As we know, wellbeing incorporates both physical and mental health. Time to listen to a motivational podcast or short meditation is also a priority. I find these activities help me to recharge after a busy morning clinic and re-set ready for the afternoon.
For me, time away from the surgery and my office desk between clinics is critical to optimal wellbeing.
Wise words
I value the wise words of my previous practice principal, in my first year after qualifying as an orthodontist and completing my MOrth. He first introduced me to the importance of practising mindfulness and going for a walk at lunch time. At the time, I thought this was so unrealistic and looked at him in disbelief, as I sat in the surgery and continued to do treatment plans at lunchtime.
Little did I realise the true wisdom of his advice and how I now advocate the same to my own team!
It is a blessing to be able to have a working day that reflects core values. I feel very blessed (by the grace of God) to be in a specialty I love with a good work-life balance and to have a working day that reflects my core values.
Thanks for reading my monthly column.
If you have any queries about life coaching, please contact me at: [email protected]
