Finding Your Core Values Exercise
EXERCISE 1 VALUE PRIORITIES
Below is a list of values. This isn’t an exhaustive list, so feel free to add your own as you see fit.
All of the values listed are important. You are identifying what drives you. For example, do not feel compelled to select “family” as a value if it is not what motivates you to action. That does not mean you don’t care for your family. Figuring out: 1) your top four values and then 2) determining your value priorities.
Here, choose the order of your priorities. Why? What you will find after completing this exercise is that there is likely one top value that is at the center of most of the many choices you make in your life. Over 4000 people have completed this exercise so far and, as a result, they have discovered the power of discovering, and then prioritizing your values can help you reach your life goals faster.
Values List | |||
Achievement | Advancement | Adventure | Affiliation |
Authority | Autonomy | Balance | Collaboration |
Community | Competence | Competition | Connection |
Contribution | Cooperation | Courage | Creativity |
Economic prosperity | Economic security | Empowerment | Fame |
Family | Focus | Freedom | Friendship |
Fun | Giver | Happiness | Health |
Helpfulness | Honoring | Inner Harmony | Integrity |
Involvement | Knowing | Knowledge | Loyalty |
Making a Difference | Non-judgment | Order | Personal Development |
Pleasure | Power | Quality | Recognition |
Responsibility | Safety | Self Motivation | Self-respect |
Service | Spirituality | Success | Trust |
Wisdom |
What are your top four values? Mine are: making a difference, integrity, collaboration, and creativity, in that order. As a result of determining my top value as making a difference, I have eliminated opportunities in my life that looked good on the surface but weren’t right for me. Over the years, again and again, knowing my value priorities has enabled me to, as Henry David Thoreau so aptly stated:
“If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams,
and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined,
he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.