Most People Don’t Know What Their Values Are

Ah! The glamour of being on the road!

It’s 2:10pm EDT on Thursday and I am sitting in the empty restaurant of the Fairfield Inn & Suites Marriot in Toronto, ON after checking out of the hotel. I am using the time to update my Power Point for tomorrow’s presentation for Advocis North Western Ontario and to write this Blog.

I have a client call at 2:15pm and a prospect call at 3pm and then it is off to the airport for an evening flight to Thunder Bay, ON.

The presentation for Advocis is from 8:30am – 10am and then I’m on the phone from 11:15am – 6:15pm and then I’m off to dinner with Rick Kelly, CFP, CLU, CH.F.C., the President of Advocis North Western Ontario. I’ll fly back to Toronto on Saturday and I’m off Saturday and Sunday lying over waiting to attend and speak at The Independent Financial Brokers Summit on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week.

Today’s presentation for Pro-Seminars went exceptionally well and I taped it as well so I will be able to get it type set for material for articles and books.

I tried something entirely different and walked out on a limb in the presentation. To back up my big fat claim that “most people don’t know what their values are”, using a flipchart, I asked the audience for one word answers for what their values are and wrote them on a flipchart.

The process was very interesting.

As the following stream of words began to flow, a few members of the audience started to comment that;

• Not all the things on the list represented their Values.
• Some things on the list are Ethics.
• Some things on the list are Wants.
• Some things on the list are Qualities.
• Some things on the list are Unmet Needs

I agree totally … “most people don’t know what their values are” and they have them mixed up with all of the above and given that values are the DNA of their vision and business plan, it is no wonder that they are off course.

• Balance
• Commitment
• Drive
• Empathy
• Friendship
• Happiness
• Health
• Honesty
• Inspiration
• Integrity
• Knowledge
• Money
• Motivation
• Persistence
• Productivity
• Resolution
• Respect
• Results
• Security
• Sex
• Sincerity
• Success
• Trust
• Work Ethic