Exercise: Think and write; 5 activities.
Outcome: Reveal Your Values, highlight and honour your higher self, advance your self-literacy and spell out your personal core values.

Your challenge awaits…

Warning! Completing the exercises may have the following side effects:

• A reduction of stress in your daily life,
• An Improvement in your decision making and problem solving skills,
• You may become aware of a significant boost in your confidence,
• A strengthening of your relationships,
• You may become overwhelmed with feelings of certainty and clarity …

Knowing, naming, and acting on your core values is one of those subtle superpowers that can have a profound impact on the way you navigate your life.

Sometimes referred to as your ‘inner compass’, or ‘moral code’, defining the rules of conduct that you live and play by. What really matters to you? What do you place on the top shelf of your inner sanctum?

In this brief guide you have full and complete permission to really go after your higher self unpack and layout the deeper and truer you.

You can look at your values from two perspectives. Some of your values will direct you away from things, and some towards. Or, some of your values help you to avoid pain points that you do not want, and some will drive or compel you towards what you want more of.

OK then, with these points in mind, lets explore some questions. Take notes as you go, and pay attention to anything that resonates with you, or gives you strong emotional responses. Write down anything your see, hear or feel that pops up as you go.

Activity 1 – your peak experiences

Take a moment, now, and think back to some ‘peak moments’ in your life. Times you felt on top of the world. Close your eyes and think about those activities, times, places, or people you were with, when things felt really good. As you bring these to mind pay attention to what you see, hear and feel. What is it about these experiences and feelings that stand out? What makes it so valuable and important to you. Make a note of those thoughts.

Activity 2 – people you hold dear

Bring to mind the people you most admire, respect, or love. What do you value most about those people, those relationships in your life? Consider the qualities of each person and what makes them so admirable to you. You could also consider your heroes, and what it is about them that is inspirational. Write any and all thoughts you conjure to mind.

Activity 3 – Facing adversity or conflict

Are there people you know, meet, or have known that seem to get under your skin? Or that you have conflict with? Hmmm, why is that? Do they operate from a different set of values? Maybe they behave in a way that goes against some of the values you hold dear. Are they crossing lines in your value set that feels, well, wrong? What are the values that you feel strongly about that can cause this to rise up in you? Add any thoughts and words that make sense to your list.

Activity 4 – choose from a list!

Read through the following list of values and choose the words that connect with you. I’ve provided a short list here, write your own as they come up. You can also search for a ‘core values list’ and find endless lists of words!

Add any that connect with you to your list from the above exercises.

Now, you may have a long list that needs to be brought down to a top 10! Read on …

Activity 5 – Refine your list

You now want to cut away the less important ones, my suggestion to you is to rewrite the important ones that really stand out.

Then, narrow that list down to 10. You can use a few systems to do this, depending on the size of your list. Giving them a rating on a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 is really powerful and holds truth to you, and a 5 is important, but you could let it slide at a push. You could use a quick comparison test as you work through, take two words and pick between them, and cross off or delete the lesser ones.

Once you have a top 10, look them over carefully and continue to drill down to a top 5, and, if you dare, a top 3, and if you feel you can, a ‘one value to rule them all’.

If you want to take a deeper dive and explore more exercises you can check out the workbook below. I personally come back to these exercises and other similar exercises annually. It is useful to check in with your values and consider how well they are serving you. Our values can change, though they tend to hold true. More interestingly, they evolve and refine as you constantly evolve and refine your life.