What Matters Most To Me

Your values are your core beliefs and philosophies that you hold about life, its purpose and your own purpose. They help you determine your priorities and give direction to how you live your life. Your values exist, whether or not you recognize or can name them, and they are not something you usually give much thought to, especially in a work situation. When your work is aligned to your values, you are usually satisfied and content. But if your work and values are not matching up, you may feel dissatisfied or restless. Examining your values can help you understand how well your current work lines up with your most highly held values, and can help guide future career decisions you may make.

Step 1

Below are a number of work-related values that help make work meaningful for people. As you read
the description of each value, evaluate that value in terms of how important it is to you and place a checkmark or X in that column. In order to truly assess what matters most to you, make sure you assign values to all categories.

Very important / Reasonablyimportant / Important but not critical / Not important to me
Achievement / Accomplishingwhat you set out to do, as a result of your own effort and skill
Advancement / Ascending the levels of a profession or in an organization
Adventure / Having exciting and remarkable experiences, taking risks
Authority / Directing projects, people or situations, taking on a lot of responsibility
Autonomy/Freedom / Being able to set own schedule and priorities; working without
a lot of direct supervision
Challenge / Doing stimulating, interesting or demanding work
Community / Actively participating inand supporting a group with common interests
Creativity / Producing something new by using imagination and original thinking
Expertise / Attaining special skill or knowledge; becoming a known and respected authority
Friendship/
Relationships / Establishing and maintaining meaningful relationships with others
Fun / Having enjoyable experiences
Growth / Experiencing progressive development
Happiness / Experiencing a state of well-being and contentment
Health/Wellness / Having continual physical, mental, emotional and social well-being
Integrity / Standing up for your beliefs; being honest and trustworthy
Leadership / Guiding and directing a group of people and motivating them to achieve common goals
Learning / Continually developing your own knowledge and ability
Location / Living and working where you would like to
Make a Difference / Making a difference in the world; having an impact on peoples’ lives
Money / Havingfinancialwealth
Passion / Having a strong feeling of enthusiasm or excitement for something or about doing something
Recognition / Having your efforts formally acknowledged and appreciated
by others
Security / Achieving a secure and stable work and financial situation
Self-Expression / Expressing your own personality in a way consistent with your ideas and values; being yourself
Service / Making a contribution to the well-being of others; to provide someone with something that is needed or wanted
Structure / Having a clearly defined structure to work within; sticking to a work plan and schedule; following a regular routine
Teamwork / Working with others rather than working alone; cooperating and collaborating with others
Variety / Doing different tasks every day; having a number of different responsibilities; experiencing surprises and frequent change
Work/Life Balance / Having a comfortable balance between your work and personal life; being able to deal with family and personal situations without feeling work pressure

Other values important to me:

Step 2

  1. In the first column, list the values you identified as being ‘Very important’ to you. If you find you have more than 10 values in this category, go over them again and narrow down to 10 or fewer.
  1. Now comes the hard part – determining what is really, truly most important to you. Rank your values in the second column. If you struggle with this, try to identify the three or four values that float to the top for you.
  1. In the last column, indicate howwell each value is currently being satisfied in your work.

My most important values / Values in order of importance
(1 = highest importance) / To what degree is this value being satisfied in my work?
(high, medium, low)

Step 3 – Interpretation

Are your highest-ranked values being well-satisfied in your current work? Why or why not?

Nova Scotia Public Service Commission / 1