Knowing your core values helps serve as your guide post to every decision you make.
Ultimately, your core values are the drivers of your decisions.
If you want to know what someone values, look at their actions. It’s usually a pretty clear indicator.
For example, let’s say you find a $20 bill on the floor while waiting in line at the grocery store and you have no idea who it may belong to.
While some people may pick up the $20 bill and ask every single person in line if it’s there’s, another person may simply put in their pocket.
This shows one person values justice over wealth while another person values wealth over justice.
In this example, their values are driving their behavior.
If you’re open, I’ll have you consider, knowing what your core values are can be your “secret sauce” to having your content stand out from the noise.
This can become your “secret sauce” because your values can become something you stand for when creating content.
And when you stand for something, you create polarization in the market place and it will help you rally an audience around your stance.
List of Common Core Values
- Core Values List
- Authenticity
- Achievement
- Adventure
- Authority
- Autonomy
- Balance
- Beauty
- Boldness
- Compassion
- Challenge
- Citizenship
- Community
- Competency
- Contribution
- Creativity
- Curiosity
- Determination
- Fairness
- Faith
- Fame
- Friendships
- Fun
- Growth
- Happiness
- Honesty
- Humor
- Influence
- Inner Harmony
- Justice
- Kindness
- Knowledge
- Leadership
- Learning
- Love
- Loyalty
- Meaningful Work
- Openness
- Optimism
- Peace
- Pleasure
- Poise
- Popularity
- Recognition
- Religion
- Reputation
- Respect
- Responsibility
- Security
- Self-Respect
- Service
- Spirituality
- Stability
- Success
- Status
- Trustworthiness
- Wealth
- Wisdom
What To Do With These Values
Step 1:
Take the time to go through the above list and pick the top 20 values that resonate with you.
To begin, don’t over think it.
Simply trust your intuition and it the word “speaks” to you or feels right, select it.
Don’t worry about the order to begin with.
Step 2:
Once you have selected 20 values then move on to using an exercise called the “Contrasting Values Exercise.”
During this exercise start with the value at the top of your list and compare it with the one directly underneath it.
For example, let’s say the first value on your list in honesty and the second value on your list in Adventure.
Paint a picture using extremes such as…
…You could be extremely honest, where everyone in the world, as soon as they hear your name, they know you’re the most honest person on the planet. They know with 100% certainty, they can trust you no matter what, but you cannot experience Adventure.
Everyone knows you can be trusted, yet life is the same every single day.
Or…and then paint the extreme contrasting story…
…You could be extremely adventurous, where every day your sky diving, scuba diving, learning to fly your own private jet and going on safaris.
Yet, you’re dishonest. You have a ton of adventure, yet you’re a liar and everyone knows it.
Which value would you choose? Honesty or Adventure.
Personally, I would choose Honestly because it’s what I value.
By the way, there is no right or wrong and the more honest you’ll be with what you value, the more you’ll start taking actions which are congruent with your core.
And since I choose Honesty in this example, that becomes the top value so far in the “Contrasting Values Exercise.”
Step 3:
Then you repeat the “Contrasting Values Exercise” comparing the top value to all the rest in your list, until you know exactly, which is your top value.
Then you repeat the exercise again to find your second value and on it goes until you identify your top 5 values.
Next Steps
Now that you know how to identify your top values, if you want to connect with a community of like-minded creative entrepreneurs who are committed to thriving in the modern day marketplace, check out the Raging Rebels Society.
