‘Tuesdays with Morrie’ is a small but powerful book written by Mitch Albom in 1997. It is a treasure chest of profound truths, helpful for those who want to evaluate and reaffirm their values. A powerful gem from the book serves as an illustration for this week’s discussion. Paraphrased, it is that today’s consumer culture generally does not make people feel good about themselves unless they’re overflowing with material things. So, one may ask, what does that have to do with values?

Well, it is an everyday example of how very grounded people who truly value relationships and good health (for example) can feel like underachievers because they don’t yet own the investments, home, or cottage, which epitomizes success in today’s culture. The lesson for us all is if we don’t nurture, strengthen, and tend our values they can become overgrown by cultural weeds.

Core Values

Values are foundational beliefs that guide our behaviours and actions. They are like traffic controllers that silently give the green or red light whenever we have choices to make, decisions to uphold, or actions to take. But if we don’t consult or listen to them we can make decisions that go against our true intentions. Some values are core to who we are and the boundaries we set for ourselves – these are core values. These do not change frequently and are often ones on which people will not compromise, even at high personal or corporate costs.

Supporting Values

Supporting values are not necessarily core to who we are and can change over time, with new insights and new information. This is how we grow and become better versions of ourselves.

Value System

Together, our core and supporting values can create a value system that helps us lead lives filled with integrity, gratitude, trustworthiness, truth, respect, and so much more. Our values can refuel our attitudes and set us up for success in every aspect of our lives… or not. It’s our choice. Thankfully, if we value things that drain our resources or deplete our sense of wellness and peace, we can fire those hurtful, incompetent and, offensive values and hire and train new ones through education, insight, and a commitment to change.

In Tuesdays with Morrie, we see how our core values can become casually and unconsciously overgrown by misguided ones. So let’s tend to our values and lead more fulfilling lives.

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Do you know your values? Do you want to discover what your values are? You can do this by taking our Achieve™ Success By Design Course.