As I look to (re)start a values driven life, I'm going through Anthony Robbin's Awaken the Giant Within, which has a great chapter on values. Yes, I know you're probably more interested in Canfield Coaching, but despite the fact my coach got me onto redoing my values (see last post - Eureka...?) it's doesn't appear to be one of the things Jack Canfield teaches. At least not that he had a pre-made lesson on in the coaching program or I've yet to come across in the book/tapes.
Now I have done a values exercise in the past few years, but amazingly, I haven't done it the Anthony Robbin's way. This astounds me as I'd thought I read through and put this book into practise a few times already. However, as I'm reading this chapter, which is late in the book, it's all fresh to me. I know I read it at least twice or three times many, many years ago, but apparently not recently. While I have picked up this book for review in the past few years, I apparently did not get this far in the book, nor read through it in detail when I last did value exercises.
The difference being, in the past, including just last September, when I did my values, I would list my values and then prioritize them. Robbins goes deeper than that. He has you really look at your values in depth in comparison to what you want to achieve. Are those the values that will take you where you want to go? Do you need to adopt new values? What do these values cost you (especially where they are ranked)? To achieve your goals what would be the optimum values hieracy? What are the values that you move away from (Anger, fear, humiliation, etc.)?
For example, Tony Robbins originally had Passion as his #1 value. I think it's evident that he's still a very passionate guy. However, as he first put himself through this exercise, he realized that having passion as his #1 value had a lot of detriments. For one, his Health (his #10 value) was suffering. He wasn't eating properly or sleeping properly, working too hard, on the road too much, and making some poor decisions all while demanding his energy levels to be sky-high to be passionate. He was running himself into the ground. In his revised value hieracy, Health became #1 and Passion dropped to #5. Freedom, his previous #2 value, dropped from the list completely. He had all the freedom he could want, except the freedom to choose those things that might benefit him but trade off on his freedom. While Robbins doesn't state it as a problem for him, I've met guys where their high value of Freedom is preventing them from having what they really want - a lasting and meaningful relationship.
Now I must admit, I have not, in recent times, deeply examined and revised my values to serve my longterm goals in such a way. Why not? Honestly I don't know. I am shocked. Perhaps subconsciously, I didn't want to.
Tonight I'll be sitting down and really going through this exercise, so next post, I'll share my new values with you.
No comments:
Post a Comment