Definition of Values: Principles or standards of behavior; one’s judgment of what is important in life.
Values have both expansive and limiting influence on a person’s behavior, mindset and life purpose; serving as guidelines in all situations, whether you are living yours or someone else’s values (culture, religion, family values…). Decide what your authentic values are for living your purpose and guiding your business mission.
Let’s Get Started
Step 1: Identify the times when you were happiest, proud, fulfilled, and/or satisfied:
What was important to you most at those times?
Step 2: Identify the major traumas or challenges you experienced as a child into adulthood that has influenced what is important to you. (ex: illness so being healthy became important, bullied so fairness/justice became important…):
What became very important to you as a result of your life experiences?
Step 3: Determine your values:
Use the following list to help you get started – and aim for about 20.
| Accountability Accuracy Achievement Adventurousness Altruism Ambition AssertivenessAuthenticity Balance Being the best Belonging Boldness Calmness Carefulness Change Clear-mindedness Commitment Community Compassion Competitiveness Collaboration Completion Connecting/Bonding Consciousness Consistency Contentment Continuous Contribution Control Cooperation Correctness Courtesy Creativity Curiosity Decisiveness Democracy Dependability Determination Devoutness Diligence Discipline Discretion Diversity Dynamism Ease Economy Effectiveness Efficiency Elegance Empathy Empowerment Enjoyment Enthusiasm Entrepreneurial Equality Excellence Excitement Expertise |
Exploration Expressiveness Fairness Faith Family Fidelity Financial stability Fitness Fluency Focus Freedom Free Spirit Free time Fun Generosity Goodness Grace Happiness Hard Work Health Helping Society Holiness Honesty Honor Humility Humor Independence Inner Harmony Inquisitiveness Insightfulness Integrity Intelligence Intuition Joy Justice Knowledge Leadership Legacy Leisure Love Loyalty Making a difference Magic Mastery Obedience Openness Order Originality Patriotism Patience Peace Perseverance Personal growth Power Perfection Personal Growth |
Pioneering Positivity Practicality Preparedness Privacy/Solitude Professionalism Professional- Growth Prudence Quality-orientation Reliability Resourcefulness Restraint Results-oriented Risk-taking Romance Safety Security Self-actualization Self-control Selflessness Self-reliance Sensitivity Sensuality Serenity Service Simplicity Social Consciousness Soundness Spontaneity Stability Strategic Strength Structure Success Support Teamwork Temperance Thankfulness Thoroughness Thoughtfulness Timeliness Tolerance Traditionalism Trustworthiness Truth-seeking Understanding Uniqueness Unity Usefulness Visionary Vitality Well-Being (mind/body/spirit) Wisdom Other_______Step 4: Distill and Prioritize your values |
Step 4: Distill and Prioritize
- Write down your 20 top values, not in any particular order.
- You may find that some of these values naturally combine. Distill your values into a grouping of values and note what is the top value they are all under.
Examples: Spiritual (nature, connecting, love, inner harmony). Grace (ease, effortlessness, efficiency).
- To Prioritize: look at the first two values and ask yourself, “If I could satisfy only one of these, which one would I choose?” It might help to visualize a situation in which you would have to make that choice. For example, If you have the values of Freedom and Helping Others, it’s the weekend and you want to relax but one of your clients call for help, which one would you pick? Look for the value that feels more expansive than the other. You may feel that modeling freedom has a greater influence than helping with their challenge in the moment.
- Keep working through the list, by comparing each value with each other value, until your list is in the correct order. 1-10 Top Values
Step 5: Affirm your values
Check your top values and affirm that they fit with your vision for yourself.
- Do these values make you feel good about yourself?
- Could you live a fulfilling and happy life without these values?
- Do these values support your mission or purpose in life?
Conclusion:
Stop living other people’s beliefs and authentically live your own, it will change your life profoundly. Identifying and understanding your values is an empowering and important exercise. Your personal values are a central part of who you are and drive your purpose in life. Use your values as guideposts to make better choices for your highest good in any situation.
Keeping in touch with your values is a lifelong exercise as some will change as you grow.
Fine Print
