Reflecting on Your Core Values:
An 8 Step Process
Determining your core values is an important process of self-discovery and growth. Values are the deeply held beliefs that drive our choices and guide our lives. This exercise leads you through selecting those principles most essential to who you are.
Instructions:
Settle into a quiet space without distractions. This exercise requires thoughtful self-reflection.
Review the provided list of over 100 values. Read through them slowly, taking time to consider what each means to you.
As you read each value, gauge your response. Pay attention to any that resonate deeply or spark emotion. Highlight or mark these for further reflection.
When finished reviewing, revisit only those you marked. Consider when or how this value has been important in your life. What experiences or moments shaped its meaning to you?
From these, narrow to 8-12 final core values most vital in guiding your decisions, relationships, conduct and vision for yourself. These represent principles you are unwilling to compromise.
You may decide you want no more than 3-5, and that is excellent, but may take more time.
For each selected core value, journal why it is so essential to who you are and how you strive to reflect it in your life.
Conclude by reflecting on how living by your defined core values makes you feel and how it impacts your growth mindset. Revisit this often.
Determining and committing to core personal values empowers you to live intentionally while guiding your vision for who you strive to become. This process of self-discovery builds your moral compass to inform critical choices when they arise.
