Values like confidence, faith, courage and hard work are key to living life on your terms. Know this my friend—it’s not only about the end goal. It’s the journey you take to get there. Because it is the journey that defines us in the end. The Value of You is a journey into the core values that give light to our human experience. Values lead us to interior freedom, peace of mind, happiness and success. Each chapter is filled with creative stories of famous people like J.K. Rowling, Simone Biles, Captain Charles "Sully" Sullenberger and Michael Jordan, as well as lesser known, yet remarkable heroes such as Dr. Liviu Librescu, Chris Singleton and Welles Crowther. Each chapter is composed of a core value that describes the value’s features, explains obstacles to living the value, results of living the value and a personal game plan with practical guidance to help you make the value your own. We live in an ever-changing world with adversity and challenges. Values are the constant that position us for happiness and success. Values are a way of life. Start your journey today!
The Value of You — Start YourJourney Contributed Article from Christopher D. Connors To launch our dream and begin living the life of our dreams, we need to make peace with where we’ve been, where we are now and where we’re going. We need to know how to take action. Action is born from a firm understanding of who we are. Once we recognize and find greater meaning in why we do what we do, everything begins to make sense. We establish a structure of core values. While everything begins with a thought, we need a plan built on values, accompanied by a willingness to act every day.
I’m excited to share with you my new book, The Value of You, which is a guide for living a bold, fulfilling life through the power of core values. I wrote this book with you the reader in mind — because I found that our experiences, while different, are in many ways very similar. Too many of us wander through life aimlessly, without direction, and do so without passion. We’re bright, bold and full of wonderful ideas, yet it’s hard to figure out the way to let our talents and enthusiasm shine.
As a result, too many people fall short of their dreams and goals and end up living a life that isn’t truly theirs. I’ve found that a lot of other people on the same path I was on. You see, after high school and college, when we don’t know what we want, we start following a plan that isn’t really in our best interest. In the process, we forfeit our right to live life on our terms, because we lack direction — we lack a game plan to get us to where we want to be.
While all of us will go through soul-searching, the sooner we can start asking ourselves the deep, philosophical questions about what we truly want in life, the sooner we can start living a life on our terms — a life that energizes and excites us each day. There’s always hope and it’s NEVER too late to live this life. I truly believe it begins with core values.
The Value of You profiles and shares inspirational, practical wisdom on how to integrate values into your life to lead you on the journey to your successful, future destiny. Each chapter can be read individually and picked up at any time. I share some personal stories, as well as many inspirational stories and easy-to-implement steps on how to live a bolder, more fulfilling life!
Your Foundation
Values are to our foundation as our core (abdomen) is to our physical movement. The more we exercise and build up our core, the more dexterous we become for forward motion and direction. In a similar way, our values become our core, the launching pad for the way we progress and behave in social interactions, and on our own, when only we know the truth. Our values are the eternal spring we can turn to for life-giving purpose, re-assessment, evaluation, encouragement, structure and renewal.
Values, when chosen properly, are of immeasurable meaning to your life and all of whom you encounter. They form the backbone for a constantly self-improving mindset which will only sharpen with time, of course when you put your wisely chosen values into practice. Values impact our thoughts, which influence our words and actions.
Values serve as the driving force behind the decisions we make and relationships we aim to build!
As I’ve found in my own personal journey, when you build the foundation of your life on time-tested core values, you gain greater direction and a firm purpose for living life on your terms. But don’t just take my word for it. Look around at successful people throughout history.
You’ll find the common thread is that great athletes like LeBron James or writers like J.K. Rowling thought deeply and passionately about the values that mean the most to them. “Jumping in” and hoping for the best simply didn’t work for them. Climbing their way to the top of their professions took perseverance, hard work, optimism and hope.
These values have come to define their lives. The same can be said for that successful friend or mentor that you admire. They probably didn’t get to where they are purely by chance. They likely kept an open mind, prioritized a disciplined life over one of frivolous pursuits. And it’s likely made all the difference. In fact, I’ll speak for myself and tell you about the lives of two of my personal friends growing up. I know for certain that they arrived where they are because they built their lives on time-tested values.
Amy Schumer is a lifelong friend who worked diligently on her craft, growing as a comedian and actor throughout her college years and into her professional career. She believed in herself passionately and lived each day with tremendous confidence. This confidence enabled her to achieve small, incremental goals that gave her hope and optimism that powered her hard work ethic. These days, you seem to see her everywhere! She’s one of the top entertainers in film and television.
Mark O’ Connell is also a lifelong friend. From the time he was very young — he wanted to be a great rock n’ roll drummer. He had the idea. He had the passion. He dreamed about it and believed in it more than anything. He started writing and speaking those dreams over his life.
He had a goal of joining a rock band and by God, he sure did. Multiple gold albums with millions of records sold worldwide, and I think we can all agree that Mark and the boys from Taking Back Sunday found success. Mark believed in himself. He believed in his dream. He prioritized his values, put together a plan and began building toward what he always wanted. He embraced the success that came his way because he waited his whole childhood for it to come. He wasn’t afraid. He exuded confidence. He kept an open mind. He powered his way through the tough times. And it made all the difference. May your journey be filled with adversity, challenges and mistakes. Because it is through these trials that you will triumph! You’ll learn what it takes to succeed and live a loving, bold, joyful life that gives meaning and hope to others. That is the greatest gift of all. Thank you for your interest in my journey. I’m excited to learn about yours!
THE VALUE OF YOU: Living Joyfully Through The Power of Core Values