WHAT ARE YOUR CORE VALUES?
HOW UNDERSTANDING VALUES WILL HELP YOU:
Whether we recognize them or not – values exist! We can make life much easier
for ourselves by acknowledging our values and by making plans and decisions
that honour them.
If you value family, but your job requires you to work a 60 hour week, will this
cause you conflict and stress? Or perhaps you work in a competitive sales
environment but you don’t value competition, are you likely to have high job
satisfaction?
It’s in situations like these that understanding our values can really help. When we
have a good understanding of our values, we can use them to make important life
decisions and answer questions such as:
Should I leave my job? Should I accept this job promotion?
Should I compromise my standards? Should I start my own business?
Should I follow tradition, or take a new path in life?
Taking time to understand the real priorities in our lives will enable us to determine
the best direction to take and help us work towards achieving our life goals.
HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE YOUR VALUES?
In order to answer this question, we first need a clear understanding of what values
are. Our values are the things that we believe are important in relation to how we
live our lives.
Our values should (ideally) determine our priorities in life, and they are generally
the measures we use to determine if life is heading in the direction we want it to.
Life is usually going pretty well, and we feel content and satisfied when the
decisions we make and the way in which we act match our values.
However, when these don’t align with our values, that’s when we start feeling like
something’s ‘wrong’ and this can lead to unhappiness and frustration. To avoid this,
we must make a real effort to identify what our values actually are.
WHAT ARE YOUR CORE VALUES?
Defining Your Values
Defining your personal values will help you to discover what’s truly important to
you. The best way to start doing this is to reflect on your life and identify times
when you felt really positive and confident that you were making good choices.
Step 1: Identify times in your life when you were at your happiest, giving
examples from your personal life and your career (this will ensure some
balance in your answers).
1. What were you doing?
2. Were you with other people? Who?
3. What other factors contributed to your happiness?
NOTES (make notes)
WHAT ARE YOUR CORE VALUES?
Step 2: Identify times in your life when you were most proud, giving examples
from your personal life and your career.
1. Why were you proud?
2. Did other people share your pride? Who?
3. What other factors contributed to this feeling of pride?
Notes
WHAT ARE YOUR CORE VALUES?
Step 3: Identify times in your life when you felt most fulfilled and satisfied.
Again, use both personal and work examples.
1. What need or desire was fulfilled?
2. How did this experience give your life meaning?
3. What other factors contributed to this fulfillment?
NOTE WHAT ARE YOUR CORE VALUES?
Step 4: Determine your most important values, based on your experiences of
inner peace. Consider why each experience is so memorable and important?
Use the list of common personal values on the next page to help you get
started – aim for approximately 10 top values.
(As you work through this exercise, you may find that some of these values
naturally combine. For example, if you value generosity, philanthropy, and
community, you could say that serving others is one of your top values.)
NOTES
WHAT ARE YOUR CORE VALUES? Examples
Authenticity Accountability Accuracy Achievement Adventurousness Authenticity
Ambition Assertiveness Acknowledgement
Balance Belonging Boldness
Calmness Carefulness Certainty Challenge Change Clear-Mindedness Commitment Community Compassion Connection Consistency Contentment Contribution CreativityCommunication Caring Courteous
Decisiveness Dependability Determination Devoutness Diligence Discipline
Discretion Diversity
Effectiveness Efficiency Empathy Enthusiasm Equality Excellence Excitement
Exploration Expressiveness
Fairness Faith Freedom Fulfilment
Generosity Giving Goodness Growth
Hard Work Honesty Hope Humility
Independence Ingenuity Identity Increase Inquisitiveness
Justice Kindness Leadership Legacy Love Loyalty Mature Optimism Obedience Openness
Peace Practicality Purpose Professionalism Progress Positiveness
Reliability Resourcefulness Respect Relationships Risk Responsibility
Security Self Actualisation Self-control Self Improvement Sharing Self
Significance Selflessness Self-Worth Spontaneity Stability Self confidence
Teamwork Temperance Thoroughness Timeliness Tidiness
Tolerance Traditionalism Trustworthiness Truth
Uncertainty Understanding Uniqueness Unity
Variety Vision Vitality
Note: Although this list of potential values is thorough, it is not
necessarily complete. Please feel free to add to the list if required.
DEFINING YOUR PERSONAL VALUES:
WHAT ARE YOUR CORE VALUES?
STEP 5: Prioritise your ‘top’ values
This step is usually the most challenging as you’ll have to look deep within
yourself. However, it’s also the most important step, because, when you’re faced
with a decision, you may have to choose between solutions that will satisfy
different values.
This is when it’s crucial to know which value is more important to you. Without
worrying about the order, make a list of your top 10 values.
Look at the first two values on the list and ask yourself, ‘If I could only satisfy
one of these, which one would I choose?’
Work your way through the list, comparing each value with each of the other
values until you’ve got your list in the correct order for you.
NOTES (make notes)
WHAT ARE YOUR CORE VALUES?
STEP 6: Reaffirm your values – Check your top-priority values, and make sure
they fit with your life and your vision for yourself.
1. Do these values you’ve chosen make you feel good about yourself?
2. Are you proud of your top three values?
3. Would you be comfortable to tell people you respect about your values?
4. Do these values represent things you would support, even if your choice
weren’t popular, and it puts you in the minority?
When you take into consideration your values in decision making, you can be
certain to keep a sense of integrity and what you know is right, while being able
to approach decisions with confidence and clarity.
You’ll also know that what you’re currently doing is motivated by the progress
that you want to make in life. It’s not always easy to make value-based choices,
but it will more than likely make life much easier in the long run.
NOTES
WHAT ARE YOUR CORE VALUES?
KEY POINTS:
Identifying and taking the time to understand your values is an important and
challenging exercise. Your personal values are central to who you are – and who
you want to become.
By becoming more aware of these important factors in your life, you can use
them as a guide to make the best choice in any situation. Some of life’s decisions
are really about determining what you value most.
When many options seem reasonable, as a leader it can be comforting and
helpful to rely on your core values, using them as a strong guiding force to point
you in the right direction.
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