Good Values

I was always good at math in school, so it’s funny that the one thing I never did when I got older was create a personal budget. I’m not sure why, probably because I always worked hard, made good money, and resisted going into debt. But finally, two years ago, with retirement looming and lower income around the corner, I decided I needed to put myself (and my wife to her great dismay) on a budget.

It was a great idea that I wish I would have implemented as a young man. But oh well, better late than never and the best thing about a budget is that you get to tell your money what to do instead of finding out afterwards what your money did on its own. And if you budget properly, it greatly reduces stress!

Then the pandemic hit and everything about our budget changed. Obviously, like most people, our income went down due to a slow-down in our business income. But the good thing was that a whole lot of our expenses went way down too. We stopped driving as much, stopped going on vacation, stopped going to the movies, and completely stopped eating out at restaurants. Our restaurant budget alone was huge and now it’s zero. Yay for that! Even though we always looked for restaurants with good value, it was easy to see looking back that the best value of all, was always at home.

And that got me thinking… What is my value to society and what are my own personal values? I wonder if people who are my friends think they are getting a good deal by having me as a friend? I wonder if my kids think they got a good deal when they got me as a Dad? And I wonder if my wife thinks she could have done better? (Even though she told me when we met that for sure I was her destiny!) I hope they think they got a good deal, but I can’t control what they think. I can only control what I do, what I say, and what I think.

So… here’s what I think about values. I think everything we do is influenced by our values because our values determine who we are. So, if we take the time to figure out which values are most important to us and pick values that are lasting and stick to them, those values will help guide us to a great life. For example, early on in my career I decided that core values like honesty, integrity, and respect are super important. In fact, I felt so strongly about it that I actually had those three words embroidered onto every single uniform shirt at all four of my companies. But that can get a little tricky. If your shirt says “Honesty” on it, and you tell a lie, people are going to call you on it really quick. But that’s the point. Your beliefs determine your behavior, and your behavior determines what you become. Maybe I was right when I was talking about budgets at the start of this story… the best values really do start at home!

A true test of character is not how you are on your best days, 

but how you act on your worst days.

~ Anonymous