As I lis­ten to the mul­ti­tude of news sto­ries about one of the world’s best golfers crash­ing his vehi­cle in the early morn­ing hours and as the  details unfold about his pri­vate life, I am sad­dened for him, his wife and fam­ily and for us.  This is just one more high pro­file celebrity who has momen­tar­ily self-destructed. It is one more high pro­file per­son who in moments of indis­cre­tion has jeop­ar­dized his career and his fam­ily life.

Then I step back and try to gain per­spec­tive and real­ize we all have sim­i­lar vul­ner­a­bil­i­ties.  We all can stray from our paths, our fam­i­lies and our beliefs.

So what is it that enables us to stay true to our core val­ues?  What is it that enable us once we fal­ter to get back on track?

I don’t have the answer to that. But I do know the clearer you are about your core val­ues, the harder it is to ignore them.  Clar­ity brings focus and strength.  In your per­sonal life and in your busi­ness life.

To get clar­ity about your core val­ues, check out the Core  Val­ues eCourse for a sim­ple resource to guide you in clar­i­fy­ing your core values.

To strengthen the har­mony in your life, reg­is­ter for a Strengthen the Har­mony workshop.

Today is Thanks­giv­ing.  A day for giv­ing thanks, enjoy­ing fam­ily, friends, good food and football.

So what are you truly thank­ful for?  Do you really rec­og­nize the bless­ings in your life even when your life seems to be out-of-control?  Or is it out-of-control because you are not rec­og­niz­ing the bless­ings in your life?

Do you keep a grat­i­tude jour­nal?  Writ­ing down what you are grate­ful for every day is one way to keep “Thanks­giv­ing” and your bless­ings in mind every day of the year.  I’ve used this tip and it is amaz­ing how it shifts my atti­tude and what it brings into my life.  (like the courage to launch Strengthen the Har­mony.)  It doesn’t have to be a “big deal” type of jour­nal.  Mine is just a small book (with a beau­ti­ful cover).  It takes me 3 — 5 min­utes to write a list of what I am thank­ful for.  I just use a sim­ple for­mat.  “Today I am thank­ful for.….  It is amaz­ing when you reflect on your day, the things that are bless­ings -  my hus­band who made cof­fee for me that day,  the purr of my black cat when she sits on my lap, the enthu­si­as­tic wel­come from our Great Danes when I come home, the email mes­sage from a friend, the client who sent a pay­ment, a phone con­ver­sa­tion with my mom, the hugs from my grand­chil­dren, the phone call from my daugh­ter or son, the flow­ers in my gar­dens, the new snow on the ground.   My Grat­i­tude Jour­nal helps me shift my focus to “what is.”

Give it a try.  I write long hand, but maybe the com­puter is a bet­ter option for you.  Or record it on your cell phone. Or on your knees pray­ing.  Just use what­ever method works best for you.

Happy Thanks­giv­ing.  And I am truly grate­ful for this blog and the oppor­tu­nity to chat with all of you!

If you are an employee, do you know the core val­ues of the busi­ness or orga­ni­za­tion that you work for?  Do you know the core val­ues of your super­vi­sor?  Of your colleagues?

If you are a busi­ness owner, have you clearly iden­ti­fied the core val­ues of your busi­ness? Have you artic­u­lated them to your employ­ees? And do you insist that the com­pany cul­ture and code of behav­ior reflect those values?

Core val­ues help you get to the root cause of dis­agree­ments and issues that cause stress, con­flict and anx­i­ety in the work­place.  Core val­ues address the root cause instead of solv­ing a symptom.

In my strat­egy con­sult­ing busi­ness, I see lots of peo­ple in orga­ni­za­tions solv­ing symp­toms instead of resolv­ing root causes. The trou­ble with solv­ing a symp­tom is another symp­tom will just sur­face to take its place because the root cause has not been addressed.  This causes more time to be spent on solv­ing another symp­tom tak­ing time away from work­ing on the work of the orga­ni­za­tion.  It also causes more stress, anx­i­ety and dis­sat­is­fac­tion in the work­place. Who needs that?

So if you are feel­ing stress, anx­i­ety or dis­sat­is­fac­tion in the work­place, check in with your core values.

Here’s a lit­tle activ­ity to help you deter­mine if you core val­ues are a good fit with your employer’s.  On a piece of paper, 1.write down your core val­ues. (See post in Your Life.)  2. Write down exam­ples of how each core value is “drawn into play” in your work­place.  3. Write the core val­ues of your employer.  (If you don’t know the core val­ues, check if any are pub­lished on the company’s web­site.  Or ask some­one who might know.)  Then com­pare your core val­ues to the those of the orga­ni­za­tion.  Are they aligned? Are there areas of conflict?

Know­ing if there is align­ment or dif­fer­ences will help you deter­mine if you need to take action to make changes — In your own life or in your workplace.

And if you need a resource to help you clar­ify your core val­ues, check out the Core Val­ues eCourse.  It is a good tool to get you started.

Visit www.StrengthenTheHarmony.com to reg­is­ter for a webi­nar. Or give the Gift of Webi­nar to some­one you care about.