Vision and Values Assessment
How to Address the Challenges of Stress and Time Management
Most leaders face two perpetual problems. They have too much stress and too little time.
The Vision and Values Assessment is the most powerful tool we’ve found for addressing these challenges. The process typically takes between 1-2 hours to complete, and can also be shared with a spouse or partner.
After completing the assessment, you’ll receive an 11 page report with your results and recommendations for next steps.
Each assessment can be used twice, so you can give one copy to your spouse or partner, or you can take it again later and compare your results over time.
The Real Reason Why Life Feels So Stressful
The most challenging decisions in life aren’t the choices between good and bad, or even between bad and worse. The most challenging decisions are between good and better. These Positive Problems are challenging because they’re the most common and the least understood.
In contrast, a Tragedy is a genuine choice between bad and worse. These choices can be excruciating, but in today’s society, they’re relatively infrequent, and they naturally evoke a lot of support from others.
Similarly, a Test is a genuine choice between good and bad. These choices come with clear laws, rules and consequences, so while they aren’t always easy to deliver on, they’re relatively simple to make.
Positive Problems are challenging because they come with tradeoffs instead of answers. For example, do you want to accept a promotion or have more freedom? Do you want to send your kids to private school or have more financial security? Do you want to invest in growth or minimize risk?
Because of this, Positive Problems are the most common and pervasive source of stress, and learning how to proactively manage them is the foundation of effective time management.
The key to resolving these problems is to clarify your vision and values, and the tradeoffs you face between them. This assessment will help you do so.
Is This Really Going to Help?
“Vision and values? Come on. I’ve got real responsibilities and challenges. How is another empty visioning exercise going to help me?”
This process is different.
Most vision and values exercises focus on the question of “what do I want?” The problem is that this question naturally creates either overwhelm or pablum. Either you end up with a long list of overwhelming goals, or a polite list of values that you can frame and put on the wall.
The key is to shift the question, and take a hard nosed, honest inventory of the question, “what do I want more?” It’s to look at the real tradeoffs between the things you want, so you stop lying to yourself (“I should be able to do it all and have everything I want”).
It’s time to get real about what’s most important to you, so you can more effectively align your life with those choices.
This assessment will help you do so.