30 November 2010

Values Essay

Brutal Honesty

Ok, so perhaps “brutal” is too…brutal of a term, but I would say I subscribe to a certain

(high) level of directness in dealing with others, the truth and all potential outcomes.

In my years of life, be them few, I’ve found it always pays to be honest upfront. It not

only prevents miscommunication, but also helps to establish a strong foundation of trust

between you and the other party (parties).

In adopting this core value, I operate in a fashion not much unlike that of which Aristotle

promotes, in the sense that I consider the situation at hand before I make a decision

regarding the degree to which I must be honest. So, yes, though it may be brutal in nature

when implemented, my straightforward honesty need not be misconstrued with crassness,

disregard for others’ feelings or imperviousness to their sensitivities.

I’ve found time after time that most people view direct honesty as refreshing, insightful

and useful. I would agree. What’s the point of skirting around the bush, avoiding eye

contact or just downright falsifying opinion? There is no point; it only leads to heightened

confusion further down the road. Overall, the pros outweigh the cons.

Loyalty to Professional Pursuits: Ambition

I am a highly devoted student. I am a student first and foremost. School is my present

purpose in life, and that purpose lends itself to further and greater achievement outside of

academia, in the professional realm. The commitment I give to school will transfer over

to whatever job I land out of school.

Part of pursuing ambition stems directly from one’s ability to self-motivate, self-

discipline and continuously maintain a positive outlook of the world (a task that often

proves harder than would be expected). Ambition has deep roots in the ability to visualize

and imagine one’s future given nothing but the current environment, long-term goals and

an overwhelming sense of forward movement.

A Balanced Lifestyle

This value ties directly in with the previous two. A drive for ambition and commitment to

telling the truth involves maintaining a fast-pace, driven momentum that lends itself to

peaks of core performance, and valleys of minimal output, i.e. extreme exhaustion. That

being said, I make a point to include less mentally rigorous pursuits in my routine. From

shooting the breeze with friends to simply enjoying a fiction read, I place great value on

making time for me, my friends and my family so that I don’t burn myself out achieving

the goals I’ve set. It’s important to realize that focusing on securing the future often

leaves little room for living in the moment and enjoying the present.

I can’t live for the future, though, and thus, need to find activities to which to commit my

time and effort that do not focus on life 10 years down the road, but rather the here and

now. Otherwise, life will pass me by, and that seems worse than not achieving the goals I

have in place.

As you can see, my core values operate in unison with one another. No one value is

mutually exclusive, and in order for each to maintain its position as a core life value, I

must relate to the other two values, taking each into consideration before applying its

own principles.