When I was making the Four Thousand Mondays website, I had to pare back about 63% of what I originally wrote because it was Way, Way, Way Too Much.
It hurt me in various parts of my soul to shave the Values section off the About page, because COACHING IS FREAKING BUILT ON VALUES. (I’m imagining myself a crotchety old woman right now, with a cigarette dangling out of my mouth, listing all my grievances to anyone who’ll listen. “And another thing…”)
I had to find a way to sneak the Values in, so buried into the blog is where they’ll find their home.
The Official List of the Four Thousand Mondays Values:
FERVOR FOR LIFE: I have a full-on, bursting desire to go wide and deep with life. All the pleasure, all the meaning, all the chocolate-covered caramel. (I rarely get “it all” yet I am committed to the cause.)
INSPIRATION TO GROW: It’s possible to reinvigorate even the most stagnant parts of our lives, with either a little nudge or a loving shove. With the right spark, we have the power to let life take our breath away. “It’s never too late to be what you might have been.” –George Eliot
HELPING SPIRIT: “I’m here to help” is my mantra before every interaction I have. I just want people to die happy, and I’m hell-bent on helping people see measurable improvements in their lives.
DIFFERENT STROKES: You might want a life full of thrills or you might want a rather zen existence. I don’t judge what you want, I just want to help you get it. (Unless it’s illegal, and I draw the line just after high-end jewelry heists.)
BOLD BRAVERY: It can take courage, as Mary Anne Radmacher said, “… to reinvent joys, to reinvent opportunities, to reinvent dreams, to reinvent connections, to reinvent hopes that you have set aside.”
SERENDIPITY: We can create the environment for outrageously amazing things to happen in our lives, then watch things unfold as though by some sort of mystery. Overprepare, then go with the flow.
BRAINY: Every nook and cranny around here is steeped in science (#ivyleagueisdope) and decades of experience (without being old and crusty). Trust is built on the foundations of smarts.
CHEEKINESS: Because fuck death, you know? It takes a slightly defiant attitude to invite the Grim Reaper over for a glass of wine to talk about how he’s going to fuck your life up one day. Let’s laugh at the absurdity.
Have you figured out your own values yet? This article might help. Get cracking! Life’s short. Don’t die unclear about what matters to you.
