The report provided me with an excellent analysis of my relational perspective. I appreciated the prompted question under each value that helped me reflect further on how I perceive these values and act on it in real life. The values are a great representation of what I believe in because I mindfully pick them after a long process of deliberation and understanding what they mean to me at this point in my life.
I was surprised to find out that none of my top nine values fell under the expansion perspective. I consider myself to be a global citizen and values such as human rights and nonviolence are important to me. I realized that I was being practical while taking the assessment and avoided the more visionary values to get to my core perspectives. I reconciled the fact that my report was missing idealistic values as they often take a lifetime to master. However, as I interpreted my results, I associated my energy for human rights and nonviolence to help inform how I define and energize my other top nine values. For example, kindness is one of my top nine values and by extension of my definition it also includes human rights and nonviolence as reflected in my community volunteer work.
I intentionally did not pick spirituality to be in my top nine values because it’s the foundation of my upbringing and it informs all my values. Spirituality grounds me and helps me understand how everything I do is interconnected and therefore I am accountable for my actions. The spirituality value is energized in my life at all times and motivates the kindness and sense of duty I have for others, and the rights that I have for myself and the environment around me.
This is what the Values mean to me:
Independence and Self-Worth
I feel independent when I am able to think for myself and make decisions without allowing of societal and cultural expectations to impact me. Energizing my independence value boosts my self-worth and confidence because it allows me to feel empowered and in control of my life. For example, one summer, I decided to move away from home in order to learn a new language despite the resistance I received from my family members.
Integrity
Integrity plays an important role in the way I interact with others, present myself and do my job. I remember an incident where speaking the truth would have created a lot of discomfort. It was nerve wracking as I mulled over whether to speak the truth or stay silent. I eventually decided to speak the truth, but do it in a way that would not come across as defensive, angry or accusatory. I stayed true to my integrity value by speaking up against injustice and as a result of being authentic to who I am and what’s important to me, it boosted my self-worth.
Curiosity, Kindness, Personal Growth, Achievement, and Legacy
I was once curious about how a camp that I worked with accommodated children with special needs. My initiative to ask turned into a promotion from general staff to an investigator. I conducted research for the camp and the recommendations I provided were implemented which benefited the children with special needs. My curiosities lead me to achieve a role where I could have impact within the camp and leave behind a legacy.
Empowering Others
As the eldest child in my family I am usually encouraging my siblings to pursue their dreams and help them achieve their goals. I do that by helping them find opportunities and together we create an action plan for them to follow. I am always there for them whenever they need support or a pep talk. I seek to support them gain their own independence and self-worth through energizing my kindness and empowering others values