{"id":221976,"date":"2024-05-07T08:00:41","date_gmt":"2024-05-07T12:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chrisbailey.com\/?p=221976"},"modified":"2024-05-08T14:56:18","modified_gmt":"2024-05-08T18:56:18","slug":"your-values-explain-basically-everything-you-do","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chrisbailey.com\/your-values-explain-basically-everything-you-do\/","title":{"rendered":"Your values explain basically everything you do"},"content":{"rendered":"
Estimated Reading Time<\/strong>: 2 minutes, 22s.<\/div><\/div>\n When I was a teenager, I ran a marathon. Well, sort of.<\/p>\n Following the instructions from a great book (my memory is hazy but I\u2019m pretty sure this<\/a> was the one), I trained for hours on our treadmill at home. By a certain point, I was practically running a full marathon in the basement. The book made it so that, once you got to the point where you could run the distance, the actual marathon was easy\u2014you had already done the hard work in training. (Or at least this was how I felt as a teenager\u2014I might feel differently at 35!)<\/p>\n Reaching this marathon milestone, I did what I usually do in such scenarios: I quit. I stopped running entirely and didn\u2019t sign up for a marathon as I had planned to. Once I had proven to myself that I could run the distance, I had no interest in the follow through. There was nothing left for me to figure out.<\/p>\n Reflecting on this experience, as well as where I fall on the list of 10 fundamental human values<\/a> (refresher below!), my reaction makes sense.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In the values continuum, I score incredibly high on self-direction and relatively low on achievement. Put differently, I care less about accomplishing things than I do about proving to myself that I can. (While figuring out how to do them in my own way.)<\/p>\n Looking back at my life through this lens explains a lot of my decisions that, at the time, didn\u2019t make sense:<\/p>\n By default, we make decisions that align with our true nature: our values<\/strong>. There\u2019s always a deeper reason motivating what we do, especially when you find your actions difficult to explain. Values are usually what\u2019s behind this.<\/p>\n When you have the time and space to form your own intentions, you\u2019ll find those intentions typically revolve around what you value. This is a good thing: research shows that our behavior becomes meaningful when our actions are true to what we value. Most of our automatic decisions are the simple result of evaluating our options and considering how they connect with the values we hold.<\/p>\n The next time you can\u2019t explain your actions, reflect on your values. They are probably at play, behind the curtain, pulling the strings of your life.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" How your values tug on the strings of your life. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":221982,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n<\/p>\n
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