Laying a Foundation: Primary Values & Guiding Principles – TPW377

This is the time of year when we focus on our goals and things we want to get done in the new year--and that's important. But this is also a good time to get back to basics and think about our values and the principles that guide us. Our values and guiding principles lay the foundation for setting and achieving meaningful goals As I mentioned last week, I am spending these final weeks of the year taking some steps to prepare for a productive new year. For a lot of us, that involves setting goals for the year. We’ll talk about that process soon, but I believe it’s important to lay a strong foundation before actually setting goals.  When people think about productivity, they often think about calendars and to-do lists and project management, and all of those things are a big part of what we discuss on this podcast. But there’s a big difference between being busy and being productive. True productivity requires a purpose to guide the activity.   In order to be truly productive, it’s important to spend the time living that life we want and maximizing our positive impact on the world around us. To help do that, think about who you are, who you want to be, what kind of life you want to create for yourself and for those you love.  In this episode we talk about a process for identifying principles to guide our decisions in such a way that our activity is consistent with our true values. The basic steps: 1. Set aside a time when you can be quiet and undisturbed. Get something to write with and your favorite beverage. Spend some time thinking about what matters to you--who you want to be in the world, and why. When I think about values, I think of character qualities and about people. For example, it's important to me to act with integrity, to have my life reflect what my faith teaches me, to be authentic and transparent, to be kind, to notice others and help when I can. Contribution is important to me--I want to make the world around me better. Building community is important to me. When I’m honest, self-preservation is important to me--which sometimes conflicts with the desire to be authentic and transparent. 2. List/describe the roles you play in life and the relationships that are part of your life. * Example: I’m a wife, a mom to adult kids, a grandmother, a lawyer, a citizen, a friend, a podcaster. I’m a human being.  3. Taking into account your personal values, prioritize these areas of your life. (Don’t forget to make your physical, mental, and emotional health a priority.) I’m not one who believes in ranking people in some sort of numbered order. But looking at each role or commitment, how important is it in relation to the others. We’re all juggling multiple roles and goals, and the truth is, sometimes they conflict with each other in terms of demands for our time, energy, and attention. That’s why doing this thinking is so important--how do we decide what to do when.  From an article by John Maxwell, quoting Brian Dyson (then the CEO of Coca-Cola) from a university commencement address: Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling five balls in the air. You name them – work, family, health, friends and spirit – and you’re keeping all of these in the air. You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. But the other four balls – family, health, friends and spirit – are made of glass. If you drop one of these, they will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged, or even shattered. They will never be the same. * If we drop the rubber balls,