Core practice: meaningful values
So often we move through life not questioning if we're living according to our own values or that of the culture in which we live. The problem is that our culture doesn't always provide the most nutritious values for us. Finding and living by your own values will:
This is an activity you can return to again and again. In fact, it can be interesting to note the steps in a journal and periodically revisit if the values still resonate with you as a new years' or birthday activity. It's an excellent way to connect with what really matters to you in life and to align your actions with your values.
How to start
The following list contains over 200 core values. You're welcome to add any that don't appear here, but this should get you thinking. Choose the ten values that appeal most to you. Notice if there are any themes or repetition, for example choosing both calm and contentment. That definitely needs your attention and probably tells you what your top value is when it appears in multiple ways. When you look deeply at them both, which has an underlying feeling that speaks to you more? See if you can now whittle the list down to your top five by eliminating the ones that are less of a priority. Which are your top two? Write these two values in several places where you'll see them regularly. The main benefit of this activity is ahead of you still...
So often we move through life not questioning if we're living according to our own values or that of the culture in which we live. The problem is that our culture doesn't always provide the most nutritious values for us. Finding and living by your own values will:
- Develop your sense of personal integrity
- Ground you
- Connect you to a sense of self
- Simplify priorities
- Reduce overwhelm
This is an activity you can return to again and again. In fact, it can be interesting to note the steps in a journal and periodically revisit if the values still resonate with you as a new years' or birthday activity. It's an excellent way to connect with what really matters to you in life and to align your actions with your values.
How to start
The following list contains over 200 core values. You're welcome to add any that don't appear here, but this should get you thinking. Choose the ten values that appeal most to you. Notice if there are any themes or repetition, for example choosing both calm and contentment. That definitely needs your attention and probably tells you what your top value is when it appears in multiple ways. When you look deeply at them both, which has an underlying feeling that speaks to you more? See if you can now whittle the list down to your top five by eliminating the ones that are less of a priority. Which are your top two? Write these two values in several places where you'll see them regularly. The main benefit of this activity is ahead of you still...
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Acceptance
Accomplishment Accountability Accuracy Achievement Adaptability Alertness Altruism Ambition Amusement Assertiveness Attentive Awareness Balance Beauty Boldness Bravery Brilliance Calm Candor Capable Careful Certainty Challenge Charity Cleanliness Clear Clever Comfort Commitment Common sense Communication Community Compassion Competence Concentration Confidence Connection Consciousness Consistency Contentment Contribution Control Conviction Cooperation Courage Courtesy Creation Creativity Credibility Curiosity Decisive Decisiveness Dedication Dependability Determination Development Devotion Dignity Discipline Discovery Drive Effectiveness Efficiency Elegance Empathy Empower Endurance Energy Enjoyment Enthusiasm Equality Ethical Excellence |
Experience
Exploration Expressive Fairness Family Famous Fearless Feelings Ferocious Fidelity Focus Foresight Fortitude Freedom Friendship Fun Generosity Genius Giving Goodness Grace Gratitude Greatness Growth Happiness Hard work Harmony Health Honesty Honor Hope Humility Humor Imagination Improvement Independence Individuality Innovation Inquisitive Insightful Inspiring Integrity Intelligence Intensity Intuitive Joy Justice Kindness Knowledge Lawful Leadership Learning Liberty Logic Love Loyalty Mastery Maturity Meaning Moderation Motivation Openness Optimism Order Organization Originality Passion Patience Peace Performance Persistence Playfulness Poise |
Potential
Power Present Productivity Professionalism Prosperity Purpose Quality Realistic Reason Recognition Recreation Reflective Respect Responsibility Restraint Results-oriented Reverence Rigor Risk Satisfaction Security Self-reliance Selfless Sensitivity Serenity Service Sharing Significance Silence Simplicity Sincerity Skill Skillfulness Smart Solitude Spirit Spirituality Spontaneous Stability Status Stewardship Strength Structure Success Support Surprise Sustainability Talent Teamwork Temperance Thankful Thorough Thoughtful Timeliness Tolerance Toughness Traditional Tranquility Transparency Trust Trustworthy Truth Understanding Uniqueness Unity Valor Victory Vigor Vision Vitality Wealth Welcoming Winning Wisdom Wonder |
Reflection questions
For each of your top values, write down three or more actions that define what it would mean for you to live these values. For example if your value is health, how does that look in terms of the hours of sleep you get, the food you make for yourself, and the amount you prioritise movement? Do you need to set a bedtime alarm for lights out each night, add move vegetables into your weekly shop, or find some online yoga classes?
For each of your top values, write down three or more actions that define what it would mean for you to live these values. For example if your value is health, how does that look in terms of the hours of sleep you get, the food you make for yourself, and the amount you prioritise movement? Do you need to set a bedtime alarm for lights out each night, add move vegetables into your weekly shop, or find some online yoga classes?
- How do I feel when I look at my top two values?
- What are three slippery behaviours that I'm tempted to do sometimes that conflict with these values?
- What can I do each week to keep these a priority?
- What can I do each day to keep these a priority?
- Who do I need to learn from or connect with to keep me accountable?
- What will get in the way of me doing these things?
- Do I need to spring clean my house/wardrobe/office to make these things easier to do?
- What do I need to add to support me in being this person?