One of the hardest things you’ll do in your lifetime is work out exactly what you want in life, what your life’s purpose is and what really defines you. I wasn’t crystal clear on my own purpose until I was aged 40! But the first step to define you is to determine your Core Values. We all have values and beliefs that are important to us and that we live by every day. We don’t think about them every day necessarily, they’re just things we do, say and tell ourselves that make up who we are and what we do.
So let me ask you a question. What are the key personal values that define you? I’m going to ask you to take some time at the end of this article to identify your values.
Most people don’t think about themselves in this context, but then again most people don’t set goals, they don’t achieve and they don’t live their lives with absolute passion. This is part of raising your standards. Define who you are now. This process provides you with enormous clarity.
Let me use myself as an example. For many years I had some values displayed on my wall, but they didn’t exactly resonate with me daily. So I undertook an exercise to identify the values that truly define me and displayed them in a way that was meaningful to me. Above is the image I created. They absolutely define who I am, what I am passionate about and what my life’s purpose is. Even though the exercise was to identify my core values, the process of identifying them provided me with SO much clarity.
Now it’s YOUR turn! Take out the pen and paper and start writing. You’ll probably identify 20+ values initially, then cut that down to 10+, then pick the top 6 to 8 values and display them in the order of importance and priority for you. Then sit back – have you got it right? Keep going until they feel right! You should clearly see that these values absolutely define who you are.