Knowing the principles you live by is one of the most important elements of self-awareness that you can work on. It could change overtime so it’s important to continuously think about what drives your motivation and behaviours. I’m sharing with you here the exercise I do with my clients for them to start exploring their core values.

How to pick your core values

1. Take a piece of paper or a notebook.
2. Take some time to look at the values below.
3. Write down the 10 most important ones for you.
4. Now reflect on how you embody these values every day: if you don’t live by them on a daily basis, you can discard them.
5. Group the remaining values into 2 or 3 main themes.
6. Name each group: pick a value already in the group that stands out to you, or go back to the list to find a label that encapsulates all the values in that group.
7. Highlight or circle the 2-3 main values that you chose that correspond to each theme
8. For each of the 2-3 core values, write your own definition.
9. Answer the question: “how do I live by this core value every day?“

You are done for now, but keep them in mind and continue finding examples of what you do to embody this value. You can also think about where it comes from, when it started being important for you, and how it influenced decisions you took in the past, and that you are likely to take in the future. You are free to change them or add more as you continue doing introspection.

The values