Career Refresh Digest #37
Welcome to the latest edition of the Career Refresh Digest.
A while back I mentioned I was developing a Values App and a standalone values session, and that I'd share more in a future edition. That future edition is this one. The Values Clarity Session is now live and bookable directly on the website, so this issue is a good moment to explain what the session involves and who it's most useful for.
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WORTH THINKING ABOUT
Your values are already affecting you, whether you know it or not
You don't need to be able to articulate your values for them to be operating. They're there regardless – and if they're out of alignment, they can't help but affect your mental health and wellbeing, because they matter that deeply to you.
This is why values work is worth doing – understanding what they are, puts you in a much stronger position.
People who are clear on their values, and know how to think about them, find it easier to hold boundaries, make tough decisions, and back themselves when it counts. The values lens changes things. It can also shed light on past decisions that felt inexplicable at the time, such as leaving a role with no job to go to, or walking away from something others thought they should want. Once people realise that a values clash was behind their decision, it suddenly makes complete sense to them.
The more useful way to think about values is as a decision-making compass. When you're facing something significant – maybe a role change, a difficult conversation – knowing your values, and their order of priority, gives you something solid to navigate by. You don't have to resolve every variable. You just have to ask: which option is most aligned with what matters most to me?
That question does two things. It makes the decision clearer. And it gives you the confidence to act on it, because when your choice is grounded in your values, you can stand behind it regardless of how it turns out.
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WORTH REFLECTING ON
How clear are your values?
Consider this:
If you had to explain to someone else what your top three values mean to you in practice – not just name them, but describe how they show up in your working life – could you do it?
If not, that's useful information, and a good reason to examine your values before your next significant decision.
Worth asking: when did you last really think about your core values? Values don't change dramatically over time, but their relative importance can shift as your circumstances and career stage change. The values that guided decisions in your twenties or thirties may not carry the same weight now – and if the order has shifted without you noticing, decisions that should feel straightforward can feel unexpectedly difficult.
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WORTH DOING
Book a Values Clarity Session
The Values Clarity Session is a focused, 60-minute online session. Before we meet, you'll complete the Luminous Values exercise to identify your seven core values. In the session, we work through what you've identified together – refining what each value means for you in practice, and beginning to translate them into criteria you can apply to career decisions.
It's a useful starting point if you're weighing up a decision and want a clearer basis for making it, or if you're considering the 1:1 coaching programme and want to experience the work before committing to the full process.
Investment: NZ$297 incl. GST. If you continue to the 1:1 programme within 90 days, this cost is credited toward your programme fee.
If you'd prefer to start with a conversation, you're welcome to book a free 15-minute call.
That's it from me for this fortnight.
– Lucy
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ABOUT THE CAREER REFRESH DIGEST
The Career Refresh Digest is a fortnightly newsletter for mid-career professionals who feel stuck or out of step with their work. Each issue shares practical insights and tools to help you reset direction, make clearer decisions, and reshape your work to better fit your life – drawing on recommendations, research, and insights from client work.