I feel that in order to be an effective person it is important to have a set of clearly defined priciples upon which to base decisions and actions. At the core of personal priciples are a person's values.
After a lot of soul searching I have created a personal values statement to define the person that I am, and want to be. I review the statement at the beginning of each week and update it whenever I feel I need to in order to better define who I am and to focus on things I think I need to work on to be a better person. I like to think that it helps me achieve a consistency of values from which to make decisions.
I guess the best way to let you know who I am as a person is to provide my personal values statement. I have abbreviated my statement, leaving in the values but not what I do to maintain them, and I have left out the self improvement sections.
My Abbreviated Personal Values Statement
These are the values by which I try to live my life and from which I base my decisions.
I am more a product of my decisions than my conditions. I do not allow circumstances or past conditioning to determine my responses to the challenges I face.
I choose to focus on the positive, and to act directly on the things I can do something about.
I plan my future and constantly work towards achieving the goals I have set for myself. I believe that dreams and goals are best realized if I break them down to doable steps and focus on each step.
When I act, I make every attempt to do the right thing for the right reason.
I place high value on people, and my relationships with them are based on trust and honesty. Unless they prove otherwise, they deserve my respect and trust. I like to help people along their way whenever the opportunity arises. Every person deserves a smile and a complement.
I place a high value on friendship. I value harmony and tranquility in my relationships with others. I try to treat people as they wish to be treated and to be there when they need me to be there.
I value myself and make the time to take care of me. I strive to keep myself in good health. I strive for a balance among work, chores, and time for myself. I strive to be alive and experience life rather than to simply exist.
My personal appearance is important to my sense of self esteem as well as to other people’s perception of me.
The appearance of my possessions and environment are important to my sense of self esteem as well as other people’s perception of me.
My possessions are limited to things I use and enjoy. I do not keep things just because they might come in handy some day. If I no longer enjoy something, it is time to pass it on to someone who will.
My money is my servant and not my master. My wants are subject to my needs and my means. I seek to keep myself free of debts and to pay obligations as soon as possible.
I put money aside for emergencies, car maintenance, vacations and purchase of big ticket items rather than go into debt.
I value driving my cars, not maintaining them. When possible, I prefer to have a trusted professional work on my cars to free my time for other things.
Making and sharing images is important to me. I strive to learn how to be able to take better images and how to more effectively share them.
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© 1997 TeriAnn Wakeman. All rights reserved.