Welcome back to episode #64 of The 30-Day Year Podcast, where Dave and Jacq Conway examine the invisible force driving your decisions, identity, and future. Your Values.

What if the reason your life keeps going in a certain direction… has less to do with your goals… and more to do with what you secretly value?

Dave says that your values, rooted in the Latin word for "strength," are idealistic standards that should stretch and strengthen you over time. Your values are like the “rules” your brain secretly lives by. Even if you never say them out loud.

They decide:

What you do…
What you avoid…
What feels “right”...
What kind of person you become…
And ultimately… the kind of results you get.

And most people have never stopped long enough to think about them!

Dave and Jacq have a deep conversation about faith, agility, and generosity as core values that have shaped their business, team culture, client service, and decision-making. You’ll hear why values cannot just be posted on a wall, why they must be lived daily, and how value misalignment often sits underneath conflict in companies, teams, and relationships.

Inside this episode, you’ll discover:

The strange “invisible compass” that influences almost every decision you make…
Why some people completely change their lives after asking themselves this ONE uncomfortable question…
The hidden reason smart people keep drifting away from the person they want to become…
The surprisingly simple exercise that revealed the foundation of Dave and Jacq’s business…
Why entrepreneurship forces you to confront things most people spend their whole lives avoiding…
The subtle mistake that causes people to betray their own standards… without even realizing it…
Why two people can hear the exact same advice… and create completely different lives from it…
The unexpected trait Dave says changed his entire life… and why most entrepreneurs overlook it…
And much more!

This episode is short and sweet… but extremely eye-opening.

Because once you understand values, you start understanding why people behave the way they do…including yourself.

Tune in to the full episode now!

Key Takeaways

1.) Your values are like an invisible compass (0:00:57)

Dave explains that values are foundational. Values are the things that matter most to you.

And whether you realize it or not, they guide your decisions all day long. You may THINK you make rational decisions, but your values have been steering your life this whole time, and you didn’t even know it!

Dave says values are like a compass. They help you know when you’re on track… and when you’ve drifted away from the person you want to become.

Tune in to learn more!

**2.) Your values are already inside you** (0:01:30)

Jacq says values are already inside you.

And that’s why two people can hear the same advice…and get completely different results.

Because everyone has different values… and your actions always follow your values.

But how do you uncover what you truly value? Tune in to the full episode find out!

Once you understand this, a lot of human behavior suddenly starts making sense.

3.) Dave and Jacq discovered their company values by doing this… (0:03:51)

Would you believe this strange late-night exercise revealed the foundational values of Dave and Jacq’s business, Conway Mentorship?

In fact, this simple exercise turned into something much deeper than either of them expected, and revealed the values that would eventually shape:

their business
their leadership
their team culture
and many of the biggest decisions they would later make.

Want to try this simple and fun exercise that will make your real values start revealing themselves to you?

Tune into the full episode now!

4.) What REALLY takes over when fear enters the room? (0:07:08)

Jacq explains that entrepreneurship constantly forces you to face fear.

Hiring people…taking risks…making big investments…trying new things. All of those things can feel scary.

And in those moments… your values take over.

If you value fear and safety, you’ll stay small.

If you value faith and growth, you’ll move forward even when you feel uncomfortable.

“Your values determine your decisions. And your decisions determine your life.” - Dave Conway

5.) The dangerous gap between what people SAY they value… and what they actually live (0:09:02)

Dave and Jacq both talk about how some companies put their values on the wall, but nobody actually lives them. Unfortunately, these days this is very common.

After all, it’s surprisingly easy to SAY you value:

faith
discipline
professionalism
generosity
growth

…but it’s quite a different thing to DEMONSTRATE it through your daily actions.

Jacq says this disconnect creates tension, confusion, and conflict, especially inside organizations and teams. And that “dusty values” may be more dangerous than having no values at all.

Tune in to the full episode to discover why!

Jacq says values should be worked every day.

That means:

if you value generosity, be generous
if you value professionalism, act professionally
if you value faith, lean into faith when fear appears

Values are not supposed to be just empty words.

They are standards. And they are there to make you STRONGER.

And the more you lean into them, the stronger you become.

6.) At the root of identity is what you value. (0:13:46)

Dave explains that values sit underneath who a person believes themselves to be.

Many people talk about goals and identity. But Dave reveals there’s something even deeper underneath both of those.

At the root of your identity…is what you value.

Dave says if you consciously choose your values and lean into them daily, those values begin to strengthen you. That strength helps you move through fear, quitting, temptation, and the path of least resistance.

In other words, values do not just describe who you are, they help build who you become.

And make no mistake about it, your whole life can change when your values change!

Are you ready?

Tune in to learn more!