Helping to identify key values

Helping to identify key values 

As a professional coach, you may be asked by some of your clients to work with them to identify their key values. This can be a great opportunity to help them identify the part of themselves that they call ‘me’.

By knowing their key values, you can also help them recognize the things they are naturally drawn to or the things they are naturally inclined to do, effortlessly and without the need to set any specific goals. Some people you work with will be natural explorers, so whether they’re aged six or sixty, they will always be embarking on intrepid journeys or thinking about travel. This can be because exploring is one of their core values and they will never need to force themselves to explore because it just comes naturally to them.

We know that many of our values can be a direct result of either nature or nurture, or a combination of the two, but either way, they will have a very predominant role in determining who we are, what we want and how we live. They can also act as the essential rules on which we all build the guiding principles of our lives.

So if our actions are not in harmony with our own personal values, it will create internal conflicts that are difficult for us to resolve. For this reason, understanding key values can also make it easier for us to make positive life choices, and it’s why overlooking the importance of values can result in us feeling dissatisfaction or demotivation. And it can lead to us having possible issues with our identity if we ever feel unsure about who we are.

When working with clients to help identify their key values, it will hopefully be done based on honesty and openness. Your clients should feel free to choose their key values with full honesty, regardless of what anyone (including you) will think of them and is an essential step in the process that makes sure they are always working from a solid base.