The Core Values of Road Trips

On road trips, I always prefer to stay off the Interstate.

I'd rather take an extra half-hour to "get there" by going through the mountains, or past old barns in the country. Perhaps it's the photographer in me. Maybe it's growing up in Illinois corn fields. But the "scenic route" is typically my preference.

My wife is not a scenic route person, at all. Her preference is almost always to get there. And to get there in the most expedient way possible. Usually with minimal stopping.

She values the destination. I value the journey.

Neither of us is right or wrong in this. We're going to the same place. We have the same mission and vision.

The difference is our values (at least when it comes to traveling).

The act of forging personal core values is difficult, iterative work. It takes a spectacular amount of introspection and self-awareness to accurately determine that which motivates. The things we admire. Things that give us pause.

The process of core-value discovery is a complex one. It means time alone and deep thought. Deep work, so to speak.

But once that work is finished, values become the driving force for choices.

Values don't determine your destination. Vision and mission do that. Core values determine how to get there.

I'm developing mine.

Here are four I'm suspicious of:
Faith
Authenticity
Creativity
Learning

Maybe more? Working on this ...

What are your personal core values?