Seven Steps to Identifying Your Core Values
A simple way to live with intention and purpose
A few years ago I was struck with an irritating and helpless feeling when I admitted to myself that my life did not reflect what was important to me. Taking a long and honest look at my lifestyle revealed that I was letting life live me instead of the other way around.
I was engaged in activities that didn’t bring me joy and working hard at a job that left me feeling like a shadow of my true self. My time was not my own and I had abdicated control of my life to the dictates of my calendar and the whims of others. I realized it was time to take back control of my life and the only way I could do this was to first identify what was important to me. I call these my core values.
It might be time for you to do the same if…
➔ You’re tired of feeling stressed and like your life is out of balance.
➔ You have a nagging disappointment that your life does not reflect what’s truly important to you.
➔ You are frustrated because your life seems out of control and as if you have no say in how you spend your time or energy.
➔ The things that matter to you get shoved to the back burner while you are forced to focus on the urgent demands placed on you by others or outside forces.
➔ You are dealing with feelings of anger, resentment, or even depression. You probably feel exhausted and overstimulated.
➔ You say things like, If I could just gain some control over my schedule, I’d feel better. Or If I could just catch up with my tasks I could take some time off. Or If I could just get my life to slow down for a while I know I would be able to figure out how to change things.
➔ You wonder how things ever got this out of control.
Ifs won’t change anything. Action will. You can…
★ Build a life that brings peace, harmony, and balance to your days
★ Have time to relax, reflect, recharge, and spend with those you care about in meaningful ways.
It takes courage and some strategic planning but it can be done! Identifying what’s important to you is the first step in creating a simple, intentional, full life. Here’s how to identify your core values so you can design a life around them.
How to identify your core values
STEP ONE: Brainstorm key areas of your life and values that are important to you. It doesn’t matter if these things are not currently present in your life — it’s what’s in your heart and mind and what you long for.
This is brainstorming or a brain dump of words or short phrases that represent your core values. Basically what is most important to you? family, exercise, good food, pets, the environment, the arts, charity, education…etc. Just dump everything on the page. Don’t overthink it. If it pops up just write it down. You will then organize these and dig deeper. STEP TWO: Group these ideas and values into common themes. There is no right or wrong number but you should be able to combine all these ideas into commonalities that you see and come up with 5- 10 main categories. List those categories on paper. STEP THREE: Beside each core value explain, in a few sentences, why each of these is a core value. Explain what it represents and why it is important to you. For example, Rest is important to me because it allows me to create and destress in order to love others better. Rest keeps me healthy both mentally and physically.
STEP FOUR: Identify what each set of core values looks like in practice. Under each heading list out the practices that would be present in your lifestyle if you were living out these core values.
For example, Core Value REST: Nine hours of sleep each night with downtime in the evening to read or relax. Free weekends to take naps or walk or just hang in the hammock and cloud watch. STEP FIVE: Go through each core value and check each item that is true in your life today. Go back and highlight those that are not present in your life at this time.
STEP SIX: Reflect. Which core values does the state of your current life align at least 75%? Which core values are in need of focused change? Can you prioritize the core values that you would like to change or work on first? Which are most critical for you to begin to gain clarity and reduce stress in your life? Which is weighing more heavily on your mind and heart? Which are the most out of alignment?
STEP SEVEN: Make a promise to yourself: One core value I can begin to work on right now is ________. Action steps I can take right now to better align my life with this core value are _________(list two or three).
OPTIONAL ACTIVITY: Create a Pinterest board and label it Core Values Board or whatever you like. I call mine The Simple Way I Want to Live. This can be set to a secret board so it will not be made visible to the public. Pin any pins that contain photos, pictures, quotes that speak to you. Just grab and pin what catches your attention, makes you feel peaceful, or echos a lifestyle you are longing for.
Reflect on your inspiration board and compare it to your core values charts. Does it align and capture everything you wrote on your charts? Does anything stand out that you didn’t include in your core values chart? How does looking at this board make you feel? Compare/contrast those feelings to how you feel when you look at your schedule, calendar, or to-do list or when you think about your typical week.
Keep adding to your Pinterest board and refining your core values to help you focus and create the simple, intentional life you are longing for!
Thanks for reading! It’s been three years since I identified my core values and I’ve learned to filter my choices through the lens of what’s important to me. It’s helped me keep my life clutter free from the expectations of others and demands that don’t align with what I hold dear.
How do you maintain an intentional life?
