Core values. Google it and you’re sure to find a plethora of definitions. Basically, core values are the fundamental beliefs and attitudes you hold about what is important and they guide the way you live and work. I like to think of your core values as your WHY because when times get tough and the challenges are many, you can lean on your values for motivation because they are the driving reason why you should stay buckled in for the ride and keep pressing on. Getting clarity on your core values can help you get really intentional with how you spend your time, which is why I like to include a core values exercise in my Creating Your Personal Strategic Plan workshop.
For the exercise, I pair attendees into groups of two and give them a deck of 52 cards. Each card has a single common value printed on it, from Acceptance to World Peace and everything in between. I instruct the first person to read through the cards one by one and as they do so, place each card into one of two piles: Yes (value they hold) or No (value they don’t hold). Some attendees race through the deck, placing almost every card in their Yes pile. Others thoughtfully divide the cards into two neat piles, recognizing that they don’t consider some of the common values to hold a lot of meaning for them personally. Still, others spend so much time on each card, carefully debating the meaning of each word, that they struggle to make decisions and have a difficult time making it through the entire exercise before it’s their partner’s turn. There is no right or wrong way to move through the exercise but the clearer people are on step one, the easier it is when I ask them to do step two.
For step two, I ask the first partner of each pair to narrow down all the cards they put in their Yes pile to the 10 values that are the most important to them – their core values. A lot of people find this tricky, especially if they included the majority of cards in their Yes pile. Then, I instruct them to do the hardest part of the exercise – narrow down those 10 core values into their top five core values and rank them in order from most important to least important. In full disclosure, I often struggle to complete this part of the exercise. That’s because I hold a lot of values in high regard and find it difficult to throw out values like Fun and Adventure. What kind of life would I be living if I didn’t prioritize those? To conclude the exercise, I encourage everyone to keep referring back to their top five core values they identified to make sure they align their decisions and actions with them moving forward.
A lot of people tell you to have a word of the year. I love this exercise because it helps you identify five core values to prioritize for the year. If you do this exercise and narrow your core value list down to Family, Health, Spirituality, Balance, and Power in that order, you identify that you should prioritize quality time with your family first, and so on, which can help you be more intentional with your time and make better decisions as to where to spend it.
For 2023, one of my top five core values is Simplicity. I have the strong urge to simplify every aspect of my life. I want less responsibilities, less clutter, less chaos, and less unfinished projects, and I’m determined to make a simpler life my reality.
What foundational core values do you want to build your life upon in 2023?
How do you want to show up for yourself and for others this year?
You can work through this exercise and gain clarity on your core values by downloading my FREE My Core Values worksheet below…
