Welcome to The New Mind Studio — your weekly space to think clearly, lead with purpose, and stay human at work and at home.
Being a parent with a demanding role is no joke. You want to show up for your kids and lead effectively at work. Life is loud, inboxes overflow. Everyone needs something. Always.
This week, we explore family values. How they help you lead and build the home you actually want.
This applies if you have kids, plan to have them, or simply care about how you show up at home.
CONNECT
Before we had kids, my partner and I had one conversation that quietly shaped everything.
It was late summer in Croatia. We sat by an old playground near the sea and asked ourselves: "What kind of parents do we want to be?"
We wrote down the values we wanted our future kids to grow up with. Then we talked through what each one actually meant to us.
Fast forward to today. We have a 4-year-old daughter and an 18-month-old son. Most of our day feel like survival: meals, routines, laundry, bedtime negotiations.
But underneath all of that? There's a compass.
A shared idea of the kind of humans we want to raise. A sense of how we want to treat each other when we're tired. A vision for how this home should feel.
That one conversation made the difference.
You don't need kids to do this. Whether you're planning a family or building a life with someone, clarifying your values together changes everything.
We do this at work constantly: team values, leadership principles, culture decks.
Why not at home? Home is where you lead first.
REFLECT
Think of this as a mini workshop for your relationship or future family.
1. Start alone
Take a few quiet minutes to write down the values that matter most to you. For example, kindness, curiosity, integrity, resilience, honesty.
Ask yourself:
What kind of person do I hope my child grows into?
Which values shaped me that I want to pass on? Which ones do I want to break?
What do I admire in other families?
Action: Write your top 10 down.
2. Then come together
Share your lists and ask:
Where do we overlap?
Where are we different?
You might be surprised by what comes up.
Look for:
Shared values → these become your joint priorities
Different values → these are your invitation to get curious
For the values that differ, explore together:
Why does this matter to you?
What would this look like day-to-day?
How could we bring this into our home?
Action: Choose 3–5 core values together.
3. Make them real
Now describe what each value actually means in everyday life.
Here are 3 of ours and how we define them:
Kindness → We show respect, even when we disagree.
Rest → We care for our body and mind so we can show up as our best.
Support → We cheer each other on and support what matters to each of us.
GROW
A list is just a list until you put it into practice.
Here are 3 simple ways we bring our family values into everyday life:
Gratitude: At bedtime, we ask: "What's the best thing that happened today?"
Giving back: "We make presents together for friends, grandparents, and teachers.
Resilience: We praise the effort. Not just the result.
Here's what I've learned: kids absorb everything.
They watch how you show up, how you handle hard moments, how you treat yourself and others. How you lead at home shapes how you lead everywhere else. In meetings. In tough conversations. In all the messiness in between.
You're living your values every day. Make sure they're the ones you want to pass on. To your kids, and your team.
Let's carry the change.
Warmly, Nadia
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