Welcome to day one of the radical reflection challenge. I am looking forward to working with you across the next five days. Each day starts with a brief introduction just like this one, followed by an activity in your workbook which you can complete at any point during the day. If you haven’t downloaded the workbook as yet, you will find it at leadership.today/radical or follow the link in the show notes.
We are starting our challenge by examining our values. Perhaps you already know what you value and hold to be most important in life. Maybe you haven’t given your values much thought, or perhaps it has been a while since you reflected on your values.
Values are central to who we are. They influence what we do, how we do it and, most importantly, why we do it. However it’s easy to lose sight of our values. Often times we find ourselves balancing competing priorities. For example, you might really value time with your family and friends, while also valuing financial security. Your quest for financial security may lead you to work longer and longer hours, reducing the time you have available to spend with family and friends.
In this way, I don’t believe values are something we set and forget. It’s important to assess and re-assess what we value. Our values may change over time. It may be that things that used to be really important to us are now less important. I’m sure you know someone who has had a health diagnosis that caused them to question their values in fundamental ways. Maybe you have had a similar experience that caused you to reassess.
I know for me the loss of a parent when I was in my 20s caused a radical shift in my values. Things that I had placed my hope and confidence in were revealed to be less secure than I thought. It made me reconsider what really mattered to me.
I believe reflecting on our values regularly, whether that’s once or twice per year, provides a foundation for deeper reflections on our life. It’s very easy for our life to drift off course away from the things that matter to us most. Reflecting on our values is a great check of how we are directing our focus, our time and our energies.
In your workbook you will find a simple values questionnaire. Read through the list of values, then choose the ten that appeal to you most. You can then reduce that list down to a top three. I then want you to reflect on your life at present, and the extent to which it aligns with those values. In what ways are you currently aligned? In what areas might your values be challenged currently?
As well as completing the reflection in the workbook, I encourage you to grab a friend to complete this week’s challenge with. It’s always better to learn with others.