Self-practice: 6 simple steps on how to discover your core values
Let's look at 6 simple steps to develop your core values, shall we?. In addition, I will share with you some common core values to help you find your own personal values which would help immensely in your self-development journey.
As defined in my previous post Self-practice: Living your core values, core values refer to the most important beliefs of a person and they refer to the ideas that a person esteem to be of great worth and importance which give their life structure. I also talked about the importance of having core values as a man or woman. If you haven't read my previous post yet, I recommend you do so before reading this one because this post is a build up on the previous one.
Having and living by your core values is the first step to finding your true self and personality development. We will be looking at steps to discover your values and living by them from now onward. Let's get started!
Step 1: Get Relaxed!
Go to a quiet room or place and sit in silent contemplation on your thoughts. Before you think about those ideas and values that you esteem to be of great importance, I urge you to relax yourself and be devoid of all stress and worries. You want to have a clear mind in order to truly identify and incorporate those values that are most important to you. You can get relaxed by taking a walk as well. Just siting and meditating or by simply practicing deep breathing (i.e. breathing from your stomach) can unveil your true values and beliefs.
Step 2: Be Prepared! Have the proper tools.
While in your state of silent contemplation, have a pen and paper handy so you can write down your values as they come to you. I recommend you write on something you won’t accidentally throw away and that will last for many years to come.
Step 3: Ask yourself this question: what is truly important to me as a man (or woman)?
Once you’re nice and relaxed, simply ask yourself what’s truly important to you. Think about those moments in your life when you felt completely whole and fulfilled as a man (or woman). Think about the times when you’ve been the happiest. If nothing comes to you at first, don’t worry. Just keep thinking.
Step 4: Write down whatever comes to you.
When you have a moment of insight about what’s important to you, write it down. Be completely honest during this process. No one else is going to see this, so don’t list the values that you think should be on your list. If it comes to you, write it. You’ll be able to go back and edit the list in the next step.
Step 5: Eliminate some values.
You will want to keep your beliefs nice and tight right, well if the values that you wrote down in step 4 are more than five (5), think hard about what you truly value in life. Mark those values you’re sure about then take the ones that you feel are important, but aren’t sure if they’re top 5 material, and put them in pairs. Think about two of those values side by side, and ask yourself which of the two is more important. Then eliminate the other. Keep putting the remaining values against each other until you’re down to 5. If some of the values you listed are just two words describing the same idea, combine them.
Step 6: Prioritize your values from most important to least important.
Once you are able to shortlist your values to five core values, congratulations! Now the next and final step is to prioritize your core values in order from most important to least important. Ideally, your core values complement each other, but there might be times when two or more conflict. When that happens, the value you deem to be the most important will triumph over the less important ones.
Conclusion
If you’re having trouble getting started, I’ve provided a list of values that you might consider. There are hundreds of values you could have. Just browse through the list below to see if some of these values are consistent to your core beliefs.
As defined in my previous post Self-practice: Living your core values, core values refer to the most important beliefs of a person and they refer to the ideas that a person esteem to be of great worth and importance which give their life structure. I also talked about the importance of having core values as a man or woman. If you haven't read my previous post yet, I recommend you do so before reading this one because this post is a build up on the previous one.
Having and living by your core values is the first step to finding your true self and personality development. We will be looking at steps to discover your values and living by them from now onward. Let's get started!
Step 1: Get Relaxed!
Go to a quiet room or place and sit in silent contemplation on your thoughts. Before you think about those ideas and values that you esteem to be of great importance, I urge you to relax yourself and be devoid of all stress and worries. You want to have a clear mind in order to truly identify and incorporate those values that are most important to you. You can get relaxed by taking a walk as well. Just siting and meditating or by simply practicing deep breathing (i.e. breathing from your stomach) can unveil your true values and beliefs.
Step 2: Be Prepared! Have the proper tools.
While in your state of silent contemplation, have a pen and paper handy so you can write down your values as they come to you. I recommend you write on something you won’t accidentally throw away and that will last for many years to come.
Step 3: Ask yourself this question: what is truly important to me as a man (or woman)?
Once you’re nice and relaxed, simply ask yourself what’s truly important to you. Think about those moments in your life when you felt completely whole and fulfilled as a man (or woman). Think about the times when you’ve been the happiest. If nothing comes to you at first, don’t worry. Just keep thinking.
Step 4: Write down whatever comes to you.
When you have a moment of insight about what’s important to you, write it down. Be completely honest during this process. No one else is going to see this, so don’t list the values that you think should be on your list. If it comes to you, write it. You’ll be able to go back and edit the list in the next step.
Step 5: Eliminate some values.
You will want to keep your beliefs nice and tight right, well if the values that you wrote down in step 4 are more than five (5), think hard about what you truly value in life. Mark those values you’re sure about then take the ones that you feel are important, but aren’t sure if they’re top 5 material, and put them in pairs. Think about two of those values side by side, and ask yourself which of the two is more important. Then eliminate the other. Keep putting the remaining values against each other until you’re down to 5. If some of the values you listed are just two words describing the same idea, combine them.
Step 6: Prioritize your values from most important to least important.
Once you are able to shortlist your values to five core values, congratulations! Now the next and final step is to prioritize your core values in order from most important to least important. Ideally, your core values complement each other, but there might be times when two or more conflict. When that happens, the value you deem to be the most important will triumph over the less important ones.
Conclusion
If you’re having trouble getting started, I’ve provided a list of values that you might consider. There are hundreds of values you could have. Just browse through the list below to see if some of these values are consistent to your core beliefs.
- Confidence
- Discipline
- Family
- Financial freedom
- Friends
- Fulfillment
- Happiness
- Health
- Honesty
- Integrity
Let's play a short game! Comment on some of the core values you discovered applying the 6 steps above and let's see if there will be a "core value match" with someone. Let's Go!
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