How to Find Your Values
Values act like a compass. They give our life purpose, direction, and meaning and they determine our decisions and therefore our results. Understanding your values is so imperative to creating your success. So today what I want to do is I want to dive in and talk about how you can determine your core values. This is a deep reflection activity that's going to open up a lot of insight, in a way awarenesses for you.
So I'm just going to ask you to take a seat, grab a sheet of paper, and I really want you to open up and sit with your thoughts. Through this process, I'm going to ask that you become a gentle observer. And what I mean by that is you want to gently observe your experiences, but not from a place of judgment - just from that place of deep reflection. So that you can really bring in all of your thoughts, all of your ideas, and be honest with yourself. Because that's where we're really able to grow.
Step 1: Consider What Are The Things That Motivate You
The first thing that I'm going to ask you to really consider is what are the things that motivate you? Sitting with the things that motivate you helps you to really inquire about what's important to you.
Step 2: Consider What Things Are of Value to You
The second thing I want you to consider is what things are of value to you. What things are important to you? You may find that you list out family or that you list out success or security. I want you to really sit with what things are important to you and consider why they matter.
Step 3: Identify 3 to 5 Times When You Felt Like You
The third step is to identify three to five times when you felt really alive, where you felt really motivated, and where you felt really just you. What about these experiences, circumstances or situations made you light up? What about them made you feel alive? What about them made you feel in touch with yourself?
As you consider these things, you're going to also start to notice things that matter to you, things that are exciting to you, things that you value.
Step 4: Identify 2 to 3 People That Are Like Expanders For You
Now the fourth step is to identify two to three people that are like expanders for you. These may be fictional characters that you read in a book or watched in a movie. These may be people close to you that you really admire and love. These could be celebrities that you really look up to.
As you consider these two to three people, I want you to consider what are accomplishments or talents, or skills these people have that allow you to be drawn to them. It's important that you figure out what you admire about them. Because when we have these expanders, these mentors, these people that we look up to for guidance, these are also things that we want to mirror and match in our own life. And I always say, right, what's desired by you is available to you. And so when you have a desire to do something similar to someone you admire that's also available for you to have.
Step 5: Consider What You Really Want to Accomplish
The fifth and final step to be able to elicit your values is to consider what are the things that you really want to accomplish. Those big goals, those things that you're setting out to bring into fruition. And then I want you to consider what are the things preventing or blocking you from actually being able to accomplish those goals. When you understand those barriers preventing the success that you desire and deserve, you actually can find what you value.
So let me give you an example. Let's say you decide, all right, I really, really want to write a book. And so you set out on this mission to write a book. But every time you set out to write a book, you feel this intense amount of guilt that you should be spending more time with your family. That is a telltale sign that family is of utmost importance and, in turn, a value to you.
Step 6: Compile a List of Your Top Ten Values
Now, with this reflection activity, you can decide that you want to go through all five of those reflection questions and really consider how those can help you to elicit your values. Or you may decide to pick one or two. The goal is to write down the answer to each of the ones that you decide that you want to participate in. As you do that, you're going to start to notice what values you have. You'll even begin to see some overlapping values that show up. You may notice that financial success is a value of yours, family, spirituality, and things like that. Each of these questions helps to elicit these answers in different ways.
Now, after you've done one or more of these different reflection activities, you need to compile a list of your top ten values. So you'll notice that they're your top ten values because maybe they've been repetitive, you've answered those with multiple questions, or maybe you know that's one that you seem to really be drawn towards. Or maybe you recognize that this has been a value that has determined different decisions that you've made or different beliefs that you have.
As you come up with your list of the top ten, I want you to start at the top of the list and slowly work your way down. As you work your way down, I want you to really reflect on the ways that these different values have played out in your life.
Have they allowed you to accomplish certain things?
Have they prevented you from accomplishing certain things?
Have they brought awarenesses to you?
Have they determined different decisions that you've made?
All in all, our values are subconsciously ingrained in our mind and it determines the filter from which we experience the world and determines the decisions we make and therefore our results. For example, for me, of deeply ingrained value of mine is safety. To really prioritize safety. And so for me, when it came to hiring in my business, I didn't feel safe in that right away. I had to really work up to understanding how hiring and bringing in support would allow different versions of safety within my business and in turn, help to improve its success.
That's just a simple example of the ways in which values have played out in my life. But in turn, you can begin to see how they've played out in yours as well. You can also begin to recognize how they're so deeply ingrained that sometimes we don't recognize how they actually circumvent the success that we're trying to create because they're in the way. But the more you begin to understand your values, you elicit them and you realize the way that they play out in your life, you can start to make different decisions that still help you to align with your values and allow you to create the success that you desire and deserve.
A key thing I need you to know as you consider your values is that you're not married to them. Meaning that as you continue to transform, expand and grow, your values may reflect that in turn, they may change as well. All in all, it's okay for your values to change as you change. In fact, they should. Understanding my values has been a life-changing process for me because as I began to uncover and elicit my values and recognize how they played out in my life, I started to change a lot of the decisions I was making. I started to understand why I was making other decisions and in turn, my success changed tremendously.
This is why I'm so passionate about understanding values. If you think about it, when we think of the model of change, when people want to change, values are at the top of that pyramid because they show us that if we can't understand our values, we cannot make significant or lasting change. Inside of my Elevate Method Coaching Certification program, values is something that we dive into. We talk about values because when you understand your values, you can create success on a different level and on your terms. In addition, when you understand your values, you lead by example and you show other people how to not only understand theirs but to also be able to leverage them.
If you want to learn more about this program, I challenge you to join us in the Experience Elevate. You get a behind-the-scenes, first-hand experience of what it's like to go through the Elevate Method. Totally complimentary. You’ll learn about the different modalities we teach, and not only to understand them for yourself and weave them into your own life but how to weave them into the work that you do as a coach so that in turn you can build a profitable, sustainable and impactful business from your passion. I look forward to seeing you on the inside!
