If you are a financial adviser who is always running through your days, feeling unhappy with how life is passing you by, I urge you to invest a few minutes to discover exactly what you need and value in your life.
So, what do needs and values have to do with productivity? They are the foundation for not only productivity but for living the life that you want. Most people think of productivity as planning and time management—and it is—but the first step to being productive really goes much deeper. If you don’t know what makes your life work and what you stand for, you might get a lot done but feel empty inside. Or, you may veer off course regularly and feel unaccomplished.
When you’re out of alignment with your needs and values, it can cause you to be:
- Stressed
- Anxious
- Unfocused
- Unhappy
- Grumpy
- Nauseous
- In pain
- Tired
- Resentful
- Envious
Uncover Your Needs and Values
Needs tend to be personal priorities and principles, and until your needs are met, life doesn’t “work.” Select your top three needs. Don’t overthink this. Respond with your heart and soul, not with your head. Note: this is not about what you think someone else wants to hear. Select your top needs from the list—or feel free to add words not shown here:
- Achievement
- Adventure
- Aesthetic
- Community
- Equality
- Fame
- Family
- Freedom
- Fellowship
- Happiness
- Health
- Love
- Nature
- Peace
- Pleasure
- Power
- Self-worth
- Service
- Spirituality
- Wealth
- Wisdom
Values tend to be personal qualities or passions. They are what you stand for or who you are. Select your top three values from the list below—feel free to add words not shown here:
- Accountability
- Affection
- Autonomy
- Competency
- Courage
- Courtesy
- Creative
- Discipline
- Drive
- Fairness
- Flexibility
- Forgiveness
- Honesty
- Humor
- Knowledge
- Loyalty
- Obedience
- Order
- Reason
- Service
- Tolerance
Knowing your needs and values allows you to make a correction when needed to bring yourself back into alignment and to hold you steady when things feel off kilter. It is good to have a sense of what works for you, but it’s great to have the actual, concrete words to define what works for you and be able to fall back on those qualities when you are out of sync with what makes you YOU.
Let’s say that one of your needs is nature, and you look at your schedule and every waking minute is spent in one cave or another (home, car or work). You’re not allowing yourself to be outside in nature and you feel an imbalance but don’t know why. What correction can you make? Well, you can take a walk first thing in the morning or take a walk at lunchtime. Getting yourself outside will feed your inner guidance system and restore balance. Don’t just stop here. Write your needs and values on a sticky note and keep them somewhere you’ll see them every day. When you feel “off,” that’s a good time to revisit what you are doing and make some changes to get back in alignment.
Patty Kreamer, CPO®, coaches financial advisers to take control of their time, brain clutter, priorities, overwhelm, to-do list, inbox, interruptions, distractions and anything getting in the way of productivity. She is a Certified Professional Organizer® and Productivity Coach with the FPA Coaches Corner and co-owner of Productivity Uncorked LLC.