[2023-04-25] Values
In a recent email exchange with a friend, we talked about values: what they are, how they guide us in complicated situations, how we thrive when we live in harmony with our principles.
I shared a quote by Barack Obama, who said: "Values will get you through hard times and good times. They are the things that give meaning and purpose to what you do."
That quote and several recent conversations about values helped me to realize something I had not previously considered: the content I put out to the world doesn't merely tell a story or relay facts; it reflects my values and amplifies them for others.
When I think about the values embodied in my posts, the following words come to mind: optimism, kindness, tenderness, open-mindedness, responsibility and self-improvement. And when I think about accounts I like and follow, I recognize in them such values as harmony, inclusion, advocacy, respect, hope and lightheartedness.
For content creators, it's easy to fall into the trap of measuring our success by things that can be counted, such as the number of likes or shares our posts garner. But our real contribution is in the impossible-to-measure impact we have on consumers of our content. Perhaps they feel a tiny bit more optimistic, or will be a tiny bit more kind, or will take a tiny bit more responsibility in their lives as a result of something we shared. Maybe they will embrace harmony, or see people who are different from them in a new light, or open up to a partner.
For a variety of reasons, many of us are going through hard times right now. It may help—as Barack Obama says—to draw meaning and purpose from our values. And it may help to remember that the values we express can have a positive impact on others (even if we never know it), especially if they share those same values.
