Value In Action

V is for Value

Value is an important and foundational step in Finding Your VOICE. It entails becoming aware of the unique characteristics that you bring to society and then learning to accept and honor the Value of who you are from inside out.

I was raised to believe that every human being is a Child of God, so on a spiritual level, at least, I believed that I had Value. At the same time, It was so hard for me to believe that the physical version of me had any worth–until I learned how to really see what I uniquely bring to this world (at least my little corner of it) and to create proof for myself that it’s true!

I know I am not the only one who has ever felt this way.

One of my favorite things to do is to help people find the Value in who they are. In doing so, I have noticed that I am not the only one who sometimes struggles to believe it. I also have noticed that simply talking and thinking about our worth in abstract doesn’t necessarily help build belief that it’s really there. We have actively discover our Value and create tangible proof for ourselves that it really exists! 

So, what is Value? 

Value is understanding who you are and valuing that. It’s made up of five components:

• Self-concept: My perceptions of others’ perceptions of me.
• Identity: Do I feel like I matter? 
• CORE™ traits: What do I uniquely contribute to society?
• Innate Value: I Am
• Core Values: What do I value?

Over the next few weeks, my emails will be centered around these five components of Value as I understand them. It’s one of my favorite subjects to talk about, and I’m excited to share them with you.

This week we will focus on Self-Concept.

Self-concept can be defined as How do I think about, evaluate, or perceive myself?  It answers the question: Who Am I? And often we attempt to answer this question based on the roles we play and our beliefs about how these roles should be performed. To take it further, we tend to evaluate our performance based on how we think others think we are doing.

“I am not who I think I am; I am not who you think I am. I am who I think that you think that I am.”

I call this “outside in,” and it doesn’t always feel good. Finding your Value means learning to come from the “inside out.”  Getting to that point is an ongoing process, and a beautiful journey. 

To begin that journey, it is helpful to create awareness of how your view yourself in relation to the roles you play.

Challenge: Start a Value journal. 

As we talk about Value, I will invite you to create a Value Journal to go along with it. 

You can create each page individually and store them in a binder or find an empty notebook to create pages in.
For page 1: 

1. Find a picture of yourself and glue it to the center of the page.
2. Make a list of the roles you play. 
3. Write your roles and definitions around your photo.
4. On a scale of 1-10, rate how important each role is to you, and write your definition of what that role should look like. 
5. Rate yourself on how you measure up to the expectations of each role.
6. Journal about what you notice.
7. Decorate the page any way you wish.
8. Join the private Find Your VOICE facebook group.
9. Share your page with the rest of the group. (Optional but recommended)