Career Growth

Why It's Important For Grads To Have Core Values

Why It's Important For Grads To Have Core Values
This article was written by Damien L. Butler, Founder of Manifest One Empowerment Group, on behalf of the Happy Grad Project. The one thing I believe will help recent grads be successful as they begin job searches, jobs, and even careers is a group of personal core values. I have written about this before, but I couldn’t let this opportunity pass without emphasizing this one more time. Related:The Importance Of Being Aligned With Your Work Core Values are the principles that help make you who you are. They shape your decisions, help you choose your friends, and should help you choose who you work with or for. Personal core values are your brand marker. They are what people remember about you when you aren’t around. Your Personal Core Values will help drive your thoughts, actions, character, and reputation. As you begin a new chapter in your life, your reputation is what is going to get you great letters of recommendations, support from past professors, and opportunities that others are not getting. Your current actions and future vision should be shaped by your values. Values aren’t developed over night. You may have never given them much thought, but your values have been a part of you for a long time. Values are past down from our families, influenced by friends we grew up with, and are a result of the environment we come from. Values vary from person to person, but we all have them. If you value trust, you will act in a trustworthy manner; if you value excellence, you will surround yourself with people who tend to work hard. What you value determines a great deal. My core values are:
  • Faith; belief in myself and my belief system
  • Family; my support system, those who believe in me
  • Focus; keeping my goals clear
  • Fidelity; my accountability to my family and the successful process
  • Fortitude; my ability to push past adversity
The career path you want to pursue will develop as your values develop. The people you choose to build relationships with, the activities you participate in and what you are willing to sacrifice will impact your future and solidify your success. Start thinking about what’s important to you and you can map out the job and life of your dreams. Your Core Values will be a guide you to the things that you want and deserve. Congratulations on starting your journey. If there is only one thing you can take with you, take your Core Values! I wish you life changing experiences and all the success.

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