As we kick off the year 2020, this is the perfect time to get clarity around your values – those things that are most important to you in your life, that guide your decision-making and motivations – and to identify the people in your support network who can help you live out those values personally, professionally, and academically (or build new relationships with the people who you need in your network!).
This January during National Mentoring Month, we are shining a light on the importance of your values and your people. Your people could include a mentor, a wise counselor, an adviser, a faculty member, a peer or friend, or perhaps a coach. These are the people who you turn to for advice and feedback, and who support you in leading a life of meaning and worth.
We hope you’ll keep scrolling and check out the following resources for identifying your values and your people throughout this month, which include:
- Values Identification Assessment
- Values + People Exercise
- Find Your People: Get Advice From Wake Forest People
Values are those things that are of importance and worth to you that guide your motivations, judgments, and behavior. Take a look at some of these sample values, and jot down a few that jump out at you, as things you think might align with who and where you are right at this moment.
Additionally, you may want to take the Life Values Inventory, a free online values clarification assessment to identify the values that most align with you.
Now take some time to consider how your values align (or don’t align) with your major/minor, extracurricular activities and hobbies, future career aspirations, etc. Write down any reflections, inconsistencies, and realizations you may have.
So what types of people should you be looking for to help you live out your values on a daily basis?
Let’s do some reflection on how the people in your life add or detract from your ability to live out your values consistently. And, consider any gaps in your support network.
- Who are the people that you turn to regularly for support, feedback, advice, and wisdom? This could be family members, friends, professors, staff members, peers, etc.
- In what ways do these people add to or detract from your ability to live your values?
- Do the people you are spending time with feed you emotionally, intellectually, or otherwise? Or does that time drain you and leave you emotionally, intellectually, or otherwise exhausted?
- Who else do you need in your life to provide support and wisdom?
Who Are Your People?
Now that you’ve identified your values and how the people in your life add or detract from those, think about who else you need in your life. This past fall semester we launched a campaign to help students identify the people who they can turn to for various needs in their lives. Visit the Who Are Your People? campaign to learn more and to hear from other Wake Forest students and alumni about how they found their people.
Take 5 with…
We wanted to tap into all of the great wisdom that can be found on our campus, so we reached out to Wake Forest community members and asked them five questions. Read their advice and wisdom for finding your people.
Alumni Advice Videos
During Homecoming weekend 2019, we asked alumni how they went about finding mentors, advisers, friends, people, and a community to support them in their personal and professional lives. Learn from their reflections below!