The Foundation is Values
The variation in human values and the importance of these values is becoming increasingly evident. Humans have historically either united themselves around their values in common, or divided themselves over their values in difference. In addition, the very basis of money and capitalism is in creating value for other people, and then getting paid based on that value creation. The car community, and more specifically, the drifting community has without a doubt a shared value system. While the individuals that make up the drifting community will have an array of values, there must be some core values that are shared within our community for our community to thrive.
For many of us, our close friend group is comprised of “car guys”. Many of us “car guys” met and became friends due to our automotive passion. But are cars really the reason we have a bond? We all know that these friends, and truly, these families, have not been built on a simple mechanical machine that makes us smile. While motorsports may bring us together and give us a chance to meet, we bond with these new individuals over a set of shared values. #worldwidedriftfamily has little to do with wheels and burnouts.
Recently I took to the task of writing down my core values to better understand myself. In order to to do this, I had to ask myself a set of questions. What is intrinsically important to me? What do I spend most of my money on? What makes me excited and focused? How do I prioritize my time each day?
My core values, as I presently understand them:
-Knowledge- Humans have a unique ability to understand concepts to improve
-Extreme Ownership- No excuses, own what you can control
-Efficiency- Input only what is necessary to get the desired results
-Novelty- New and exciting people, events, and things
-Human Development- Human progress (through knowledge)
-Excitement- First Dopamine fueled anticipation, next Adrenaline release
-Ethics & Honesty- Don’t be evil
-Creating- Bring concepts to reality
-Security- A foundation to feel safe and loved
“Try not to become a man of success, but a man of value”- Albert Einstein
What is it about my core values that attract me to drifting? My values have certainly evolved over the years, so are any of the original attraction values still there? Did I orient my close group of friends and drifting team around a shared set of values, or just for the laughs?
In my assessment, the values that attract me to drifting are:
-Knowledge- I’ve always enjoyed learning how a mechanical machine like a car works and can be improved.
-Novelty- First simply playing with cars and learning drifting, then buying, installing, and trying the effects of new parts always presents new and novel experiences.
-Excitement- Anticipation for that next event or drive, and the adrenaline release the clutch kick eventually brings
-Creating- I’ve brought my own concept of a “drift car” into reality
I’d like to better understand the values that my fellow community members have, and how some of those do or don’t correspond with my values. I think a community that better understands the values with which it was built, will have a more enjoyable and long lasting community experience. To that end, I’d like to challenge my fellow drifters to write a similar article that we can share with the community. I value knowledge, honesty, and human development, so I will pay you to explain your core values!
Write an article about your exploration of values. Think about your values and list them out. I suggest using the questions I wrote about above. Then try to identify which of those has created an attraction to drifting. Finally, add your own thoughts and feelings about how this has impacted the community or your own personal life, for the better or the worse. If I share your article on this blog, I will send you 0.1 LTC (about $20).
If anyone would prefer to not write an article, but want to think about and then submit a list of your values, that would be greatly appreciated (but not paid). I’ll use these to learn, and (probably) write an article about it.
