How To Define Your Core Values

By Georgina El Morshdy

Do you struggle to feel purposeful in your life or fulfilled in your relationships?

Maybe you feel disconnected from your to-do list - or you’re always thinking about how much better life will be when you’ve achieved your latest round of goals.

Perhaps you don’t feel as aligned as you’d like. You can’t quite put your finger on why, but you know there’s a disconnection between what you want and what you’re actually doing.

It’s frustrating and irritating when something feels off!

Fortunately, there is a way to empower yourself to make aligned decisions, feel more purposeful, and gain direction for your life.

Enter your CORE VALUES… A simple, yet powerful tool that will help you understand yourself at a deeper level; empowering your best self to thrive in ALL areas of your life.

Let me show you how…

What are Core Values?

Your core values are the things you decide matter most in your life.

They’re the things that make your heart beat that little bit faster with excitement. The experiences that leave you with a sense of awe. The moments when time stands still.

When you’re living life in alignment with your values, you feel alive. You feel more purposeful too because life just works. You experience moments that are ‘well-lived’; adding beautiful things to your memory box.

When life unfolds in alignment with your values, there’s little resistance. You’re in your flow and you find your zone. You’re not clock-watching or wishing you could be somewhere else. You’re fully present and switched on.

We’ve all had meaningful moments like these.

When I think of my life, some of the experiences that spring to mind are travelling through India, listening to a soul-deep conversation that ignites something inside, or feeling my heart about to burst at my son’s beautiful smile.

I feel the same when visiting a new beach, when reading a book that shifts my thinking, or when talking into the night with my husband.

There’s a reason these kinds of experiences make me feel alive. They each connect back to my three Core Values.

I don’t get the same feelings doing something that doesn’t light me up. I don’t feel as vibrant when cleaning the car, sorting through my paperwork, or tending to the garden. And it’s not that these tasks aren’t necessary. The difference is they’re not as important to me because they don’t fit into any of my Core Values.

The power to create more moments that matter

When you know your Core Values, you don’t have to cross your fingers and hope you’ll experience more of the things that matter. Instead, you can create them intentionally.

• Carve out time in your calendar
• Set aligned goals
• Delegate tasks, errands, and to-dos that take you away from your Core Values.

In turn, your life becomes all the richer.

But how do you discover your Core Values?

Keep reading and I’ll show you how...

Discovering your Core Values is an intuitive process. There is no right or wrong value - just the values that are right for you.

The easiest way is to browse a list of values words - something the Core Values Deck can help you do.

As you browse through the deck’s 150 words, your instincts will kick in. Sort into three categories:

• ‘NO’ - discard these.
• ‘MAYBE’ - pop these onto your shortlist.
• ‘HOT YES’ - add to your definite pile.

Aim for a maximum of three Core Values. Any more becomes unmanageable [and three is the magic number!]

As your shortlist shrinks, you may struggle to pick between words. If this happens, look tor the umbrella word. For example, curiosity might drive your creativity. If so, curiosity is the value you’d pick.

My Core Values are Love, Adventure, and Wisdom.

Now you can see why the memories I shared earlier meant so much!

• I love travelling, spontaneity, and going to new places because adventure is so important to me.
• I love learning, new insights, and conversations that crack something open up because I’m inspired by wisdom.
• I enjoy moments of soul-deep connection because I desire to feel love.

This is where your analytical, logical mind can add to the process. When you’ve found a word that feels right, simply trawl your brain for memories to back this up.

For example, I knew adventure was right for me because so many of my favorite memories are from my travels and trips. Other words came close. I contemplated freedom for a while, but ‘freedom’ didn’t land in the same way as adventure - even though they have similarities.

Explore how you’ll live each value day-to-day. The real magic of your Core Values is using them to craft your life.

Define your Core Values, ignite your Best Self

Define your Core Values and you’ll unlock the confidence that comes from knowing you’re always headed in the direction of your best self. When you know what you care about most and you build your life around these values, you get to feel great!

And isn’t that what we want most.

What are your three Core Values?

Feel free to share a picture of your three words on social; tagging us @bestselfco.