Values are basic and fundamental beliefs that guide or motivate our attitudes and actions. They are at the core of our being and are the food that feed our life’s purpose.

I would invite everyone to take time to write down their core values. To be introspective and declare them to yourself and to the world. Here is my declaration of my values:

Love

I love the creativity that goes into software development. You get out of a computer what you put into them.  It exercises the creative mind visualizing and developing a user experience, a user interface, and actions for that program.  It serves a great need to solve problems for others. Helping them do their work more efficiently.

You receive gratification from that work and from others. On that note, I love to work on creative projects that mean a lot to me or brings a lot a value to other people. I feel a need to be an entrepreneur. To drive my own destiny and work on the projects that bring me the most happiness.

I love to share and teach what I know with others. To give value to people. It’s self-gratifying to know I helped someone else with my opinion or knowledge. It’s why I like to manage and coach my team and anyone who will listen.

Learn

I love to learn. Especially when it comes to learning a new perspective on something I had thought was concrete knowledge. I am confident in my beliefs but am usually willing to question them in order to ensure I am following the right belief. Self-education is an eternal journey and I know that I will never know it all, which makes me want to continue to find new ways to learn more.

To know is to know you know nothing. That is the meaning of true knowledge.

Socrates

I know nothing. It is why I have a small library of books to read, Audible subscription, and am attempting to tackle them writing down the bits of information I glean from each one. Many of which are on the same topic, but all add value in their own frame of reference.

Have Fun

I love to have a good time and always thought funny people were the coolest around.

Finding someone you can hang out and laugh until it hurts with contributes to a healthy mindset.

It’s a deal-breaker for my personal relationships, you have to be able to take a joke and make them.

Listen, Communicate, Open Your Heart

We have to be willing to slow down our minds and take in all the information that is being sent to us to process it all in order to make a more empathetic judgement and response.

I tend to pride myself on my ability to quickly solve problems and come up with a solution for work and business. Applying that method to communication and personal relationships is unlikely to work unless the other person is a similar personality.

We must listen, and then listen more. Listen to what they’re telling me. Understand what emotion has driven them to tell me what they’re saying. Give responses that let them know I understand their emotion and what they’re saying with real truth and not simply placating to them.

We need to allow ourselves to be vulnerable and talk to others openly like they were our inner-selves.

I do this with anyone and everyone who will listen and it has made me become a better communicator. It allows me to get more personal with others which leads to stronger bonds. Overall, the social interactions we desire (attention, more respect, more friendships, or personal bonds) is received when we allow ourselves to communicate with others at a personal and heart-to-heart level.

Be Good

Be good to others. Love them like you wish to be loved. Give them the affection and attention that you wish to have. Go out of your way to be the better human in an argument or dispute. 

For most of my adult life I never considered volunteering. I now consider it paramount to meeting my personal values. Through my church I was able to find a volunteer program I really was interested in. Working with Habitat for Humanity I was able to work on building something with my hands and helping those who are not as fortunate. It was a life-filling experience and I look forward to the next volunteer event.

I highly recommend finding an organization and activity you would enjoy and simply volunteering your time.

Love Yourself

We all have flaws. It’s important to recognize our own flaws and know that if we can change them for the better, even just a little bit, we should. We need to accept ourselves but shouldn’t accept mediocrity. Always strive to be a better human being. Accept challenges and know that failure is simply a learning opportunity. Never give up. Never surrender.

Always keep trying. Be the best that you can be and always strive to be better. Set goals and challenges. Don’t beat yourself up if you miss those goals and challenges. Learn from what you did wrong and adapt. The Agile way.

Work on a healthy body, not so that you meet a societal standard, but because it will make you a healthier human. A stronger and healthier body makes me more likely to be able to play sports with my son and teach him how to have a healthier body without being a hypocrite.

Work on a healthy mind. It’s important to recognize the cemented negative behaviors that we’ve all made during our lives and understand where they come from. Not to put an excuse on our circumstances, but to understand ourselves fully and learn to change our behaviors. E + R = O.