GOALS OR VALUES by Dan Ballast

In one of our recent servant leadership courses, we shared a short video with students about the difference between a “goal focused life” and a “value focused life.” This was part of our session on helping students think about their values and what it means to live according to core values. Having goals and a vision are important in leadership. But, if we live our lives only focused on our goals, we miss the opportunity to enjoy the journey towards our goals by living out our values. People who only focus on goals, without thinking about their values, will often find themselves frustrated, especially when they don’t reach their goal as quickly as they would like. In our courses, we help students think about important values like love (valuing people), respect, listening, service, and forgiveness. Interestingly, the opportunity to practice these values often comes in the form of “interruptions” as we are pursuing our goals. How will we respond to such interruptions? Will we become annoyed, or enjoy the journey towards our goals, by taking time to practice our values?