What Are Core Values and Why Are They Important?

Core values are a set of values that you live by like guiding principles or a north star. While they take work to figure out, becoming clear about your core values can guide you in life through difficult moments and decisions, making your life a lot more easy to navigate. Becoming clear on your core values involves self-reflection and exploration of what is truly important to you. This discovery process helps you come to know what your core values are. Core values can act as a guiding beacon in your life for all of the hard (and easy) decisions we make in our daily lives and can help to bring a sense of clear purpose. Speaking of purpose and meaning, the lack thereof is a major depressant and creates confusion and so many of us face this painful reality each day. Thankfully you’ve come to the right place today and here’s a process you can follow, including exercises and questions to help you identify your core values:

1. Reflect on Significant Experiences

Exercise: List significant experiences in your life, both positive and negative.

Questions:
– What were the most meaningful moments in my life?
– What experiences made me feel most fulfilled or proud?
– What situations caused me discomfort or frustration?

Objective: Identify common themes in these experiences that might indicate underlying values.

2. Identify Peak Moments

Exercise: Reflect on moments when you felt most alive, engaged, and true to yourself.

Questions:
– When did I feel most aligned with myself and my actions?
– What were the circumstances and actions in those moments?
– What values were being expressed or fulfilled?

Objective: Understand what elements were present during your peak moments that align with your values.

3. Consider Your Role Models

Exercise: Think about people you admire and why.

Questions:
– Who are my role models, and what qualities do they possess?
– What actions or traits in others inspire me?
– What values do these admired qualities reflect?

Objective: Recognize values that resonate with you based on the traits you admire in others.

4. Examine Your Daily Choices

Exercise: Reflect on how you spend your time, money, and energy.

Questions:
– How do I choose to spend my free time?
– What do I prioritize spending money on?
– Where do I invest most of my energy?

Objective: Identify what you prioritize in your daily life, as this often reflects underlying values.

5. Assess Your Passions and Interests

Exercise: List activities, causes, or interests that you are passionate about.

Questions:
– What activities make me lose track of time?
– What causes do I feel strongly about?
– What topics do I enjoy learning or talking about?

Objective: Highlight values connected to your passions and interests.

6. Clarify What You Stand For

Exercise: Reflect on situations where you took a stand or felt strongly about an issue.

– **Questions:
– What situations have triggered strong emotions or actions from me?
– What issues would I defend even when faced with opposition?
– What do I believe in, regardless of what others think?

Objective: Identify values that you are willing to stand up for, even in challenging situations.

7. Create a List of Core Values

Exercise: Write down potential core values that resonate with you.

– Questions:
– What words or phrases represent what’s most important to me?
– How do these values align with my vision for my life and actions?

Objective: Narrow down a list of values that feel most authentic and significant to you.

8. Prioritize and Define Your Values

Exercise: Rank your list of values in order of importance and define what each one means to you personally.

Questions:
– Which values are non-negotiable in my life?
– How do these values influence my decisions and behavior?
– What does each value mean to me, and why is it important?

Objective: Develop a clear and prioritized list of core values with personal definitions.

9. Reflect and Revisit

Exercise: Regularly revisit and reflect on your list of core values.

Questions:
– Are these values still aligned with who I am and want to be?
– Have recent experiences brought new values to light?

Objective: Ensure that your values remain relevant and true to your evolving self.

Conclusion

Understanding your core values is an ongoing process. Take these 1 – 9 actions above in bite size pieces. Bookmark this page and come back to it with your journal when you find time to work on your core values. Understanding your core values can serve as a compass, guiding your decisions and actions. Being clear about them can help you live a more authentic and fulfilling life. For more depth on this check out the book The Values Factor by John Demartini. Discovering your core values is something a licensed therapist can help walk you through as well.