How to identify your values?

Values are a set of principles that help us make day to day life decisions. Oftentimes, we might feel some discomfort and realise that one of our values are being challenged. It is also totally normal that two of our core values might be competing (for example: stability and adventure). By recognising our values and keeping them top of mind, we can be more aware of what’s going well, what’s not and how to make intentional decisions moving forward. For example, finding out that creativity is a core value that is being ignored would trigger us to maybe find some time per week dedicated to that value. Values can also be useful before making big or small life decisions acting as our compass for what to do and what not to do.

Example of Values

Accountability, Achievement, Adaptability, Ambition, Balance, Being liked, Being the best, Caring, Caution, Clarity, Coaching, Commitment, Community Life, Compassion, Competence, Conflict management, Continuous learning, Control, Courage, Creativity, Dialogue, Ease with uncertainty, Efficiency, Positivity, Entrepreneurial nature, Environmental awareness, Ethics, Excellence, Fairness, Family, Finances, Forgiveness, Friendship, Future generations, Generosity, Health, Humility, Humor, Independence, Initiative, Integrity, Independence, Job security, Leadership, Listening skills, Openness, Patience, Perseverance, Personal contentment, Personal growth, Personal Growth, Professional Growth, Power, Resilience, Self-discipline, Trust, Wisdom

This exercise will help you identify some of your core values through different strategies.

1- Peak experiences: reflecting on our best moments could offer insight about what lights us up.

Question: Think about a moment in time where you were thriving? What values were at play?

2- Suppressed values: reflecting on moments that frustrate you, make you angry also offer insight on what might be important for you.

Question: Think about a moment of time where you were extremely frustrated? What values were being challenged?

3- Daily lived values: reflecting on how we spend our most precious resources (time and money) could give us insight on what we are prioritising intentionally or unintentionally.

Question: What do you spend your money on? What values can you identify here?

Question: How do you spend your time? What values can you identify here?

4- Role models: reflecting on who we look up to (whether fictional or not), could give us insight on what we find important.

Question: Who do you admire? What values can you identify here?

5- Bringing this all together: what are the most repeated values in your answers. Narrow down your list to around 5 values. Write them down somewhere you can see them. Keep revisiting until you feel content with your list. This can start acting as your compass for what you say yes to and say no to. Our values can change slightly throughout life based on what we aim to prioritise during that period - so I would recommend doing this exercise every year or so.