Understand your values to go back to work with confidence

In my last post, I shared the 12 essential steps that career break mums need to go back to work with confidence.

The first item on that list was to Understand Your Values. Hmmm … now what does that mean, some of you may be wondering. How do I know what my values are?

Why understand your values?

Understanding your values is about understanding why you do what you do. It’s about identifying what you feel most strongly about. What is most important to you. A value is an intangible such as freedom, creativity, integrity, stability or independence.

Every one of us has a value system. Our core values (i.e. the most important ones) affect everything that we do, how we behave, and how we feel. Think of your values as your unspoken rules and regulations; the terms and conditions by which you live your life. Sometimes, for whatever reason, we might compromise our core values. If you do this unknowingly, this may be reflected in how you feel about life or work or being a parent, and in turn may affect how you behave. At work, for example, if freedom and independence are core values, you might not enjoy working in an environment that was very regulated and required absolute compliance to many rules and regulations.

On the other hand, if loyalty is a core value, a person might stay in a job that they absolutely hate, but “can’t” leave because loyalty is such a core value. They might not even be aware that this is what is happening. That person might be giving you all sorts of reasons as to why they are still in a role when it might seem very obvious to you that it’s not the right job for them. It might be the right career, but not the right organisation.

Where do your values come from?

There are many factors that affect our values – partly cultural, partly upbringing, partly just you.  When I work with mums who want to go back to work after a career break, and they’re not sure whether they want to go back to the role they had before, it could be that their values will not be met. Whether your previous career is at conflict with your core values or whether becoming a mum has changed how you feel about certain things. Running your own business could give you what you want; or maybe using your skills in other ways or in another type of  organisation is the answer.

Values are super important. Once you understand your core values, your drivers, your terms & conditions for life – you can make more effective and more confident decisions. Understanding your values is a key part of my 7-step system to help mums go back to work with confidence.

If you are a mum who’s taken a career break, and now you want to go back to paid work, Understanding Your Values gets you started. It’s never too soon to start planning.  I work with career break mums to help them identify what’s most important to them and create the right action plan.

Getting your back to work confidence and ticking off those ‘must do’ essentials can feel stressful and overwhelming. That’s why I have created a 15 Day Back to Work Essentials Challenge to make it really easy for you to get started today. Sign up here today. (It’s free)

If you know that you want that feeling of confidence and clarity but you also know that you need help, let’s talk to find out which option is the best fit for you. Click here to find a date and time that works for you.

There’s absolutely no commitment but as an action-taker myself, I will encourage you to take action, whether that’s to work with me or to take a different first step.