What are your values and beliefs

Episode 29 in Part 2 of our Introduction series: Getting to know yourself.

Habits:  Know thyself | Be curious

Skills:  Belief | Self-awareness

Description:  In this episode, we identify the difference between your values and your beliefs. We then focus on why it's important to identify what your values are and why you should try to live up to them every day. In the exercises, we ask you to think about the values that are most important to you right now.

 

Suggested student exercise

My top 10 values?

Ask students to take a look over an image of different values. (You can download a list of common values using the button below.)

Ask students to think carefully about the values shown that are most important to them. Then, have them list their top 10 values from the image.

Are there values they prefer that aren’t on the image? Have them write their preferred value in their top 10 and explain why it’s meaningful to them.

How this lesson might be applied in the classroom

This episode identifies the difference between your values and your beliefs. We focus more on discovering your values because beliefs are shaped significantly by your environment, while values can be more personal to you as an individual.

We ask students to consider how not living up to their most important values might impact upon them. We also identify that at times, living up to your own values will be challenging and may require courage (an extension of the previous episode).

In the exercises we ask students to identify their top 10 values from a list. You can view the list here:

When discussing this episode, some questions might include:

  • Why do you think it's important to know what your most important values are?

  • Do you think you instinctively know your values or do you have to try to discover them? Why/Why not?

  • How easily could you find your top 10 values in today's exercise?

  • Do you think it will be easy to live up to the values that are most important to you? Why/Why not?

  • How do you think an awareness of your values will affect your relationships with others? Why?

Some specific discussion points

Discussion around friends, family, celebrities, or current events featuring prominent individuals offers an opportunity to discuss the different values that might be important to someone. One exercise that can help students to think about the values is to randomly select different values from the list and ask students to name a teacher or student who they think best represents that value. E.g. Which teacher or student best represents Kindness?

Some possible questions may include:

  • Thinking of the first friend or family member who comes to mind - what values do you think are important to them?

  • Why do you choose those values?

  • How do you think those values increase or decrease their enjoyment of life?

  • Choosing the first value on your own top 10 list, who can you think of that best reflects this value for you? Why?

  • Do you like the idea of being more like this person?

  • What value on your list do you think will be the most difficult to live up to? Why?

Discussing the quote from this episode:

"Be a first rate version of yourself, not a second rate version of someone else." — Judy Garland

Possible areas of discussion may include:

  • What does your values have to do with being 'a first rate version of yourself'?

  • Why do you think it's important not to be 'a second rate version of someone else'?

  • Do you think you can be a first rate version of someone else? Why/Why not?

  • What would it take for you to be 'a first rate version of yourself'?

Further information on this topic

If you'd like to dive a bit deeper on this topic, you might be interested in watching:

 

Caroline McHugh: The Art Of Being Yourself.

 

Or you might like to read:

Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than I.Q.
by Daniel Goleman, 1995.

Please let us know how we could improve this episode?

We're always keen to hear how our work can be improved. If you can think of anything we can do to improve either the delivery of our content, the content itself, the exercises, or our guides to how the lesson can be applied in the classroom, please let us know.