Understanding What You Value

NLP therapists, Hertfordshire, often support people in developing self-knowledge and having a better understanding in who they are through the process of eliciting the persons values.

Are values are very important. In fact most of what we do is driven by the values we hold. We also compare or evaluate what we do by our values in order to decide whether what we have done is good enough. Therefore are values will often impact on our self-esteem.

Often people do not ever really think about where their values have developed from or even what they are. Yet they judge themselves by them all the time. Knowing more about your values is a way to gain more ownership over your life. By asking yourself whether the values you hold are the ones you want to, that fit with your experiences or whether they belong to others such as family etc, you can begin to let go of values that no longer empower you. After all its your life, live it by what you value!

To elicit your values, ask yourself the following questions;

1. What’s important to you in life? or any specific area you want to know more about e.g. love
2. List values, then ask "what else is important to you about life"?, keep going untill you can come up with no more values
3. The last time you felt really motivated, what was the feeling you felt just before you were motivated? List this feeling
4. Next prioritize the values in order of importance.
5. Look at where you think each value came from?
6. Does your behaviour reflect these values? Do you want to live by these values?

Make sure you are eliciting the values that describe how you have lived your life so far and also that the values are "end values", higher purpose emotions. For example if to have an expensive car is a value, ask for what purpose? until you get the end value, such as achievement.

NLP therapists in Hertfordshire use NLP techniques to help people remove unwanted values. An NLP therapist, Herts will also be able to use more creative ways to help you elicit your values, via NLP techniques as it is often hard to consciously elicit them all, using the simple process above, although its a good starting point!

Karen Hastings is a NHS experienced mental health occupational therapist, Master NLP practitioner and hypnotherapist. Karen uses hypnotherapy in Hertfordshire, along with cognitive therapy and NLP approaches. For more information about Hypnotherapy or NLP, Herts visit http://www.karenhastings.co.uk