TAKE INVENTORY OF YOURSELF

Periodically it is a good thing to take inventory. Retailers do this annually. And we all know the IRS requires us to do an income inventory annually too. We sometimes take stock somewhat informally, and call the patches to improve ourselves, "New Year’s resolutions." Do you need to do a more complete self-inventory? Well, that depends. Are you happy with your life now? Are you on a defined and definite path to your goals? Do you have a plan? Are you working your plan? Can you describe your goals quickly and succinctly to a stranger? Do you have a mission statement? If you answered "yes" to these questions you are probably don’t need to do a self-inventory. Congratulations! You are one of the few people (less than 5%) who have defined who you are; what is important to you; where you want to go; defined what is required to get to your goals; and have created a plan to reach your defined goals. For the rest of us, if you think you need to make changes or you want something different or you don’t know where you want to go – a self-inventory may be the answer. At the very least it can point you in the right direction. "If you don’t know where you are going, any road will take you there." Said Lewis Carroll, in "Alice in Wonderland." So you want to do a good job so you actually end up where you want to go. This is even more important if you don’t know where you want to go. Determining who you are and what is important to you will help define the "where" and help you choose the right road. WHO ARE YOU? Inside, you are the same person you were ten years ago. Your life experiences may temper some of your actions to similar events today, but your essential internal reaction is the same. For example, you observe someone behave rudely to another. Your reaction (shame, anger, amusement, sadness, satisfaction, etc.) is the same. Your actions to this event may have changed over time. Ten years ago you may have confronted the attacker. Whereas today, you may decide to not become involved in the event. An easy way to know yourself is to write down all the adjectives you can think of about yourself and all the values that are important to you. Then begin to group them according to how important that characteristic or value is to you. After you have decided on your top ten list, determine your top five, then your top three and finally your single most important value or characteristic. How to narrow your list down, start by asking yourself which one of two values is more important to you. Then keeping the important value, compare it to another value, keep that one, and so on. As an example, let’s take three values: compassion, honesty and trust. Which is more important to Pat, compassion or honesty? Pat chooses honesty. Which is more important to Pat, honesty or trust? Pat again chooses honesty. Thus honesty is Pat’s most important value. Which is more important Pat, compassion or trust? Pat chooses trust. Thus, for Pat the order of these three values is Honesty, Trust and Compassion. USING YOUR LIST In searching for a job, honesty needs to be a component for the job to be meaningful for Pat. Thus any job with a high-pressure sales element would not be a good fit for Pat. In relationships, the ability to be honest and open will be important in a partner or spouse for Pat. Here are some questions to get you started in aligning your values with your goals and with your life. If you feel like something is missing in your life, perhaps it is simply that your goals are out of alignment with your values.

• What values do you want to be part of your work environment?
• Are they there now, or are they missing?
• How do you reinforce your values in your life?
• What values are reflected in your goals?
• Are my actions and choices moving me closer to my goals?
• Or are they getting in the way of my goals?
• How much of your time are you devoting to attaining your goals?
• What plan or plans do you have for attaining your goals?
• Are you working your plans persistently, through organized effort, or working them only intermittently, when the notion strikes you?
• Are you dedicated to your goals, or are they merely a wish or a weak hope?

I know you can do this. I know this is a valuable exercise. Right now, open up a document and start listing your values. The rewards will be high for you. Let me know your top three values. The first five people to do so, will get a free hour of coaching.

A dream with a plan is a goal. A goal without a plan is just a dream.

Warmly, Elisabeth

Elisabeth Adler-Lund Executive And Life Coaching Telephone: 916 • 803•1494 E-mail: eal@EALCoaching.com