Lacking Motivation? Overstressed? Sync Your Values to Your Work!
Why You Might Feel Drained—And How Values Play a Role
Do you know your values? Have you ever explored how they align – or don’t align – to your daily work or even life for that matter? I’ve realized in my coaching practice that these are two big questions that are often overlooked. When you’re out of sync it can feel like you’re against the current, instead of being in flow with the current. When you are consistently taking action that is against your values – or against your subconscious – you are creating a certain friction or stress within yourself and your pushed to exert more mental energy. You may even feel burnout or trapped. In coaching professionals across industries, I consistently see a pattern: when people feel disengaged or "stuck," it’s not necessarily because they’re in the wrong job or company—it’s because they’re doing the job disconnected from what drives them at a deeper level. A competitive salary or perk isn’t always enough to sustain your motivation over time. It may be time to get clear on what truly matters to you—and how to bring more of that into your work.
Align your values by doing more of what makes you happy at work.
Let’s quickly clarify what motivation and value mean.
Motivation is the internal drive or external influence that prompts you to act, pursue goals, or behave in a certain way. It’s essentially the reason why you do what you do.
Values are the deeply held beliefs that guide your decisions, behaviors, and sense of purpose. It’s what you believe has a higher meaning in your world. Your values are programmed and rooted in your subconscious. Keep in mind that you may have picked up on some old beliefs that are no longer serving you; they may actually be limiting you.
Motivation Thrives When Your Values and Your Work Are Aligned
When your job reflects your core values—whether that’s creativity, contribution, autonomy, or stability—you naturally become more engaged and resilient. Amazing, capable people feeling stuck—not because they’re in the wrong career, but because they’ve lost touch with why they’re doing it. And a side note, some of what you value may shift overtime depending on where you are in life. For example, someone in their 50’s or 60’s may put more value in their health or more work/life balance, whereas, someone in their 30’s may put more value on working hard, making money and climbing the corporate ladder.
The Science Behind Motivation and Values
Research strongly supports this connection. A study published in The Journal of Vocational Behavior found that employees who felt their personal values were aligned with their organization’s values reported higher job satisfaction, engagement, and well-being (Cable & DeRue, 2002). Another study in Frontiers in Psychology (Sortheix & Schwartz, 2017) showed that values alignment significantly boosts internal motivation, leading to better performance and lower stress. Gallup reports that workers with high purpose wellbeing — meaning they feel their work is aligned with their interests, values, and strengths — are much more likely to be engaged at work. Specifically: people who can align their work with their interests, values, and strengths are about three times more likely to experience high purpose at work.
The Future of Misalignment: More Stress = Less You
Where will you be in 1, 3 or 5 years if you stay on a misaligned path? We are meant to live with flow. The more you move away, the more intense an outside force will try and push you back. Every day you push through the uphill grind, checking the boxes and delivering results — but it comes at a cost. When your work pulls further from your core values, the stress doesn’t just stay at the office. It compounds, drains energy, eroding focus, and leaving less of “you” for the things that matter most. Over time, the gap between who you are and what you do only widens, until a circumstance forces you to make changes. This could show up as a health issue, a major unexpected life change, burnout, etc. The good news? Alignment is possible. With the right strategies — whether reshaping your current role, redefining priorities, or building new approaches — you can reconnect your work to your values and reclaim both your performance and your sense of self.
4 Ways to Reconnect Values to Work
Identify Your Core Values – What do you believe in, and what really drives you? Examples may be: Self-growth? Connection? Creativity? Integrity? Autonomy? Structure? Innovation? Efficiency? Work/Life Balance?
Evaluate Your Current Role – Where does your work reflect those values? Where does it violate them? A tip is to understand what tasks or interactions are lifting your energy and what is draining energy.
Reframe or Realign – Is there a gap that may be easily aligned with a small mindset change? Perhaps you can view certain tasks from a “silver lining” lens? It could be as simple as that, and other times, it’s about reshaping your role—or making a strategic career move.
Start the Conversation – Talk to your manager, mentor or seek a coach. Explore possibilities with them on how you can find a better flow. When people align their values with their work, everyone wins—engagement, retention, and innovation all increase.
What is Your Next Step?
You deserve to live in flow more often than not. Are you struggling to find clarity around your values? How would you benefit from having a qualified coach guide you through a values discovery process and provide valuable insight into linking them to your daily tasks and overall career? I have help many professionals reconnect with what drives them—and use that insight to create a more meaningful, energized work life.
Take action now! Chances are you’ve already waited too long and you’re already feeling the effects of misalignment. Take that first step and contact me now. I offer a FREE, no obligation discovery call to see if coaching is right for you. DM me on LinkedIn, text message or email me and let’s get you aligned and elevated.
Salvatore Leone
Elevate by Being, LLC
M: (947) 517-7910
E: coachsal@elevatebybeing.com
LinkedIn: SalvatoreLeone
#Motivation #CareerGrowth #LifeCoaching #ProfessionalDevelopment #ValuesAlignment #WorkplaceWellbeing #LeadershipDevelopment #ElevatebyBeing #SalvatoreLeone #Burnout #WorkLife Balance #Synchronicity