I’ve been talking a lot over the past week about how to identify your personal core values.

I feel this is especially important in times like this when we have massive shifts in what we’re doing and how we relate to each other and the world.

They enable us to reassess where we are, where we are going and who we want to be.

They act as an anchor to recalibrate our entire sense of self.

But why is it important to identify your core values?

You only get one life and I want you to live a life that enables to have the most fulfilling life you can have. Often we spend time looking at other people and wanting a bit of what they’ve got. Wishing our lives were easier and more like theirs. Well, you know what? You can have any life you dream of. You get to decide what you do in your life, so what not decide to have the best life you can?

Our values are part of us, they help us understand what is important to us, why we are here, how we can create a fulfilling life. They are what makes us unique.

Each of us will have a different set of values based on our education, our upbringing, our sense of what is important. And the more we can tap into them, the richer our experience of life will become.

And when we’re thinking about our businesses mapping out our values acts as an anchor to enable us to create products and show up authentically in the world. The more people feel like they understand us and our values, the more they trust us.

Brands that spring to mind who have locked down their values are Apple, John Lewis and Huit Denim.

Think Marketing Magazine says; ‘Only 20% of brands worldwide are seen to meaningfully and positively impact people’s lives, and as social technology continues to drive consumer activism, many companies are waking up to the realization that articulating their values and mission is not luxury. Instead, articulating how your brand brings its core values to life is now critical for your brand reputation’

So if only 20% of businesses are doing this – don’t you want to be in the top 20%?

“Marketing is about values. It’s a complicated and noisy world, and we’re not going to get a chance to get people to remember much about us. No company is. So we have to be really clear about what we want them to know about us.” — Steve Jobs, Co-Founder Apple

How to identify your core values

We’re going to go through 2 exercises to help you identify those values that are important to you. It’s part self-assessment, part exploration into your past and what makes you, you. And we’re going to be talking about your personal values, as most of the people reading this will be running small businesses, that are essentially them – so why not create a business 100% aligned to you?

Part 1 to identifying your core personal values

I want you to think about a time when you were really happy.

It doesn’t necessarily have to be the day you got married or the day you gave birth. Sometimes it’s the more mundane happy things that give us the most insight into our selves.

So for me, I’m thinking about going to New York last year with my best friends. We had so much fun, it as full of adventure and joy and friendship.

I’m also thinking about a moment when I was watching Robin in a school play. Which ordinarily can be quite tiresome. They can go on, most of the kids sign out of key, or so quietly you can barely hear them – it’s not always the most joyous occasion! But I remember this one time when Robin was on stage and I was so overcome with emotion and gratitude I started crying. I was just so relieved to be alive and to get to witness this moment.

So have a think about a couple of times in your life when you’ve been super happy.

What was happening? Who was there? What were you doing? What were the circumstances surrounding this moment? And importantly for this, what values do you associate with this moment?

Check out this list of Personal Values and write down the values that resonate with you.

Next I want you to think about a time when you were sad or angry.

It could be something that happened today, it could be the loss of someone, hurt and upset, a cancer diagnosis.

What was happening? Who was there? What were you doing? What were the circumstances surrounding this moment? And importantly for this, what values do you with moving on from this experience.

We’re all amazing resilient human beings, who have suffered and come through some dark times. So what were the values that pulled you through?

Again, check out this list of Personal Values and write down the values that resonate with you.

Now the hard bit.

I want you to whittle down your list to just 3. Your top 3 personal values.

Why 3? Well it is the magic number, there was a song about it!

But honestly, we’re trying to come up with something meaningful and something we’ll remember. That we can carry with us that act as our compass.

These are your 3 pillars. The values that hold you up and allow you to be who you are in the world.

They enable you to make better decisions, to show up more, to be authentic, they can keep you motivated and inspired when times are trying, they’ll help you to be clear about what you want and who you want to be.

You might find that your lists of words have themes. For example, you might have joy and happiness, so which one resonates with you the most?

When you done this the next piece of work is to ask yourself…

Are you already living a life according to your values? And if not how can you tweak and alter your life to bring them into the fore.

If you picked creativity, how is this showing up for you, are you allowing your creativity to come through?

And really what does living a good life look like?

Find out who I can help you create a business you love that’s true to your values.