In this modern world, it is very easy to forget what you stand for or who you are. In the race to fit in, we compromise on the things we believe in. ‘Our values!’
But, what are values?
A word that has only 6 letters but holds so much power. It dictates the choices we make and determines the direction that our life takes. Our values influence our decisions related to relationships, careers and even hobbies.
Values are what we believe in, they are the aspects that define us.
‘That person is honest
That individual is brave.’
Values in a way help us find our identity.
To truly understand what values are we need to introspect. But being a 17 year old ‘reflecting’ and ‘introspecting’ sounds rather boring. Plus I have many other things to focus on like rewatching ‘Clueless’ or studying (we all know that is not true but well…)
So, why should I understand what my values are?
Not because if you are dishonest and people say you lack any sort of values but because they
have so much influence over you as an individual. After all, values are man-made. But they are guiding principles for life. Living by certain values help you get the most of everything you wish to achieve.
The way you think and the way you perceive the world and its issues. Even our schools have values- things they would like to teach their students. Integrity, compassion, responsibility and respect are some of the most common values.
Even though we have understood what ‘value’ means, how do we identify those values?
It's simple. Deconstruction! Meaning-break it down. By looking at our past experiences and breaking them down we would be able to identify our values.
To truly understand what values you possess and live by, you must deconstruct them until you are able to clearly see what exactly you value and why you hold those values. Honestly looking at the way you were raised is the first step in identifying the values that you were instilled with while growing up.
Think of this, for example- as a child were you rewarded for, being amongst the top students in
your class and for getting high marks or were you rewarded for giving your best effort and helping others in school or even outside?
In the first case, it is possible that you started valuing ‘consistency’- studying consistently to achieve those scores. In the second case, the child could have understood the importance of being kind, helpful and empathetic.
At the end, it depends on the way you were socialized when you were a young child. It is possible, those who were great at academics and helped out others would inculcate in themselves ‘consistency’ and ‘empathy’. (NCBI)1.
Look at your present life and reflect on:
Who do you think you are?
Who do you aspire to be?
As a person as well as when choosing a career. What you will notice is that whatever you choose, it will be directly or indirectly reflective of your fundamental values.
As an Adolescent in today’s world, We may grow up with wealth and material goods as the dominant “value”
in our society. The definition of success by popular culture is winning, wealth, physical appearance and popularity- the more money and more power you have and the more attractive and popular you are, the more successful you would be (Businessinsider). Growing up with these definitions, success was largely unattainable and pretty much impossible. But we all want it.
This is where I think your values come in. The value help you understand what you want out of life. It will guide you to make a choice between happiness or only chasing wealth to become ‘rich’ and successful.
On a personal level, I believe one of the most useful and enlightening values is communication. Our experiences and conversations with others over time shape the person we become.
Communication isn’t always through oral conversation or messages. Art forms like dance, theatres, visual arts etc all allow us to express ourselves and hence we are able to communicate our thoughts to others through our movements or art pieces.
No matter whether you are studying or working, communication can help you to build a relationship with people. The main motive of communication is to create a friendly environment and share your thoughts and feelings with one another. There are a number of issues which can be solved through the right and effective communication. Simple things like managing people and planning your days with your friends needs some sort of communication to take place. Communication helps to create a strong team environment (Forbes).4
Any work which needs to be done in a team iso only possilbe when one communicates everything well and in the right direction. If people understand everything and have a clear idea accomplishing the mission becomes easy. Thus, with the help of communication, you can reach any target or meet the goal in a successful manner. A leader must have good communication skills so s/he can convey their thoughts easily to the group and solve any issues rising within the people. If your communication skills are excellent, people will love and respect you. Whenever there is any problem, you will be the first person to be contacted thus increasing your importance. Also, you can climb the stairs of success with good communication.
When communicating with others, you get to learn a lot. It can even influence the way you think and feel.
I have family and friends who are extremely interested in politics and law in the country. So over time-having multiple conversations and debates, I too have discovered my liking for politics. And thus the values I grew up with are very much in tune with who I am and who I want to be and pursue as a career in the future.
Even the Indian Constitution is guided by values such as integrity, transparency, accountability, impartiality, public welfare and equity. These values are visible in the preamble which mentions the nature of the country as sovereign, socialist, democratic and republic and the objectives of the Indian state as liberty, equality, justice and fraternity.
As a law, we young people must know about the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009. It is an act that provides for free and compulsory elementary education for children ages 6-14 years and prevents discrimination of children from weaker sections or disadvantaged groups. In a nutshell, it makes education more accessible-just the way it should be.
Now the world has become online-with which cyber laws are most important with cyber-bullying on the rise.
In relation to cybersecurity, there are four values that its laws are based on security, privacy, fairness and accountability. (Cybersecurity: Laws and Regulations USA 2021) 3
Is there any law that you have a lot of value for?
Write it in the comments !
Stay tuned to our Instagram page, for an upcoming activity to uncover your values!!
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This blog has been Conceptualised by Vedica Karnik Vidushi Puri, our youth bloggers and Vriti Bajaj.
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