Invaluable Values:How integrating personal values into business can transform our wellbeing, businesses and the planet.

Fundamentally, we humans thrive when our time and energy is dedicated to things, we believe in.

Having spent many years working with both already established and budding entrepreneurs, I’ve noticed that those who take the time to determine their personal values and steer their business accordingly not only enjoy improved focus and success professionally but experience a greater personal sense of fulfilment and purpose.

Taking personal values into business may seem like an anomalous concept- many of us have understood our business life and personal life to be two separate realms. Yet with anxiety, stress and even depression related to work on the rise, it’s now clear that the two can by no means be separated. Whether we have an established business or are looking to start one, it will undoubtedly require a great deal of time and energy, and if our business practices are not aligned with our core values, energy levels and motivation falter, as does our ability to make decisions in line with where you see yourself and your business heading.

So, you get it, establishing values is crucial for you and your business’ wellbeing. But what are values exactly? I see them as principles and standards of behaviour, our sacred truths. Where goals and plans focus on an outcome, values are about how we do things- they define how we want to live and cut to the core of who we are.

Why put your personal values at the core of your business?

1.     Identifying personal values help you make good decisions, and faster. Deliberation time is greatly diminished when we have clearly established values. For example, if I have identified a core value of mine as sustainability, the decision of whether to package my goods in plastic which is more economic, or biodegradable bags which will cost much more, is made easy.

2.     If your business operates via investment from shareholders, establishing and clearly communicating business values will help attract like-minded shareholders from the get go. This will help ensure your business doesn’t have to cater to shareholders who do not share your core values.

3.     Somebody has to lead the way. When it comes to values like protecting our planet, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed and hopeless about the state of things which can lead to complacency. Yet as Buddhist mindfulness expert Jack Kornfield says, we must ‘tend to the garden we can touch’, meaning that we’ve each been given a sphere of influence in this world, and our focus should be tending to our own sphere responsibly, however small the impact may seem at times.

4.     Sound sleep. A big call but one I’ve found to be true. The peace of operating a business in accordance with the values you hold deeply goes such a long way in ensuring sound, restful sleep. Even when we try to avoid facing conflicts between our values and actions consciously, our subconscious accepts no such avoidance. 

5.     People are more inclined to spend money on sustainable products. I know this is true for me. A good product is no longer enough to win over the many conscious shoppers who are more inclined to buy from a business with sustainable products and practices. Furthermore, customers/clients respond to authenticity. We can all sense the difference between a rehearsed sales pitch and communication of genuine, heartfelt values.

Convinced but unsure where to begin? Here are some practical ideas for how to align your business with the core value of environmental sustainability:

1.     Offer one product where all proceeds go to charity.

2.     Install accountability. For example, by signing up to 1% for the Planet, you commit to donating 1% of profits to an environmental organisation.

3.     Install transparency. For example, you could provide an honest account of your business production practices as they are, accompanied by changes you wish to make and the time frames in which you aim to make those changes. You could also become certified with an organisation like B Corp, demonstrating that your business makes decisions that make a positive impact for your workers, customers, suppliers, community and the environment.

4.     Vote with your wallet. Conduct thorough investigations into the practices of all your suppliers/manufacturers and don’t financially support businesses that are doing the wrong thing.

5.     Offset your business’ carbon footprint through organisations such as Carbon Positive Australia or Greenfleet. Both of these incredible organisations plant trees to sequester carbon and restore ecosystems.

From deep consideration of questions like ‘who am I, really?’, ‘what do I care about?’, we can determine the core values of our heart and integrate them into business. Doing so will not only elicit decisiveness, focus and peace of mind, it will help us use business as a vehicle for the meaningful change our planet is crying out for. If you’d like help discovering your core personal values and creating a business in alignment with them, please get in touch.