How to Identify Your Personal Core Values for True Fulfilment

I may earn money or products from the companies mentioned in this post. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases, at no extra cost to you.

Have you ever struggled to decide your next step? Or maybe you feel like you are doing everything ‘right’, but you aren’t feeling fulfilled? 

It might be that you are living against your personal core values.

Your values are your compass, a guiding light, to help you live a life that you find fulfilling. Values are your core beliefs that represent your priorities, and what you deem is important in the way you live.

Being True to Yourself 

Your values are the foundation of your behaviors and your decisions, helping you live authentically. Living according to your personal values means you are being true to yourself.

“A lot of the conflict you have in your life exists simply because you’re not living in alignment; you’re not be being true to yourself.” ― Steve Maraboli, Unapologetically You

Don’t have time right now? Save for later!

Why are Values Important? 

Getting crystal clear on your personal core values is key to making decisions and living in a way that aligns with what you believe is important. Becoming clear on your set of core values has many benefits.

According to research, becoming clear on your personal core values helps you make better big life decisions, feel more fulfilled in life, tolerate physical pain more easily,  have greater self-discipline and focus when studying or working, and create stronger social connections. 

Fulfilment

Without clear personal core values, it is easy to get swept up by external circumstances, and end up in a place where you aren’t feeling fulfilled, leaving you frustrated, unhappy, and uncomfortable. 

By disregarding your personal core values, your mental, emotional, and physical states suffer. You feel unhappy and frustrated, which can manifest itself into depression, anxiety, or anger. 

On the other hand, when you live in alignment with your personal values, you feel satisfied, happy, content. Every day has a purpose.

Decisions

Getting clear on your personal core values also help you make the right decisions about your life, like these: 

• Should I take this job?
• Should I take this risk and travel?
• Should I compromise?
• What should I incorporate into my daily routine?
• What goals should I focus on this year?

Identifying YOUR Personal Core Values

So now that you know how important values are, it is time to sit down and get clear on what is aligned with you.

1. Empty Your Mind 

The first step is to take a deep breath and empty your mind. Try meditating or exercising to get into the higher state of consciousness and awareness so that you can get answers from your subconscious, rather than getting stuck with your conscious mind. 

2. Self-Inquiry 

Ask yourself questions. This is the best way to figure out what is important to you. You can take out a journal and start exploring your personal core values. 

1. Who do you admire? What is inspiring about them? What qualities do you admire of theirs? What behaviours and actions would you like to emulate? 
2. What inspires you? What feelings motivate you? What do you feel passionately about, that makes you want to speak up or take action? In what situation are you willing to risk comfort? 
3. In the situation above, what are you willing to risk? What are you willing to give up? (this means it is lower down on your list of core values.)
4. Identify a meaningful moment in your life. What was happening? What core values were standing out? 
5. When was a time when you felt really content, happy, and fulfilled? What was happening in those times that made you feel so good? 
6. Identify a time when you were angry, frustrated, or upset. What was happening? What were you feeling? What values were suppressed here? 
7. What is most important to you in your life? If you had all the money and unlimited opportunities, what would you need to be fulfilled?
8. Think about the choices you made today, and the past few days. Notice each choice, and label each choice with a value that it highlights. Go back and identify which choices were easy to make. Which choices left you feeling a bit uneasy or uncomfortable? This will help you identify times you were in alignment with your values and times when you weren’t. 

3. Reflect 

Now that you have a long list of values it is time to sift through the list and identify what is truly important to you.

First, make groups. For example, community, intimacy, belonging, and connection can all be grouped together. Identify a central theme and select one arching value for the group. 

Now, reflect on which values are most important to you. Ask yourself, which values are truly essential to your life and your happiness? Which values are hardest to compromise on? 

Start ranking these core values in order of importance. To help you with this process, ask yourself, if you could only satisfy one of these, which one would you pick? 

4. Re-affirm Your Values

Finally, it is time to re-affirm your personal core values and to test them out. It is easy to accidentally adopt society’s, friends’, or family’s values. But what often happens is that by adopting what is important to others, you end up dissatisfied. Thus, revisit this list to ensure each value is aligned with YOU and not someone else. 

Go through the list and ask yourself the following questions: 

• How does this make me feel? 
• Is this consistent with who I am? 
• Am I proud of this list?

Living with Integrity 

It is not enough to just identify your personal core values. You need to take intentional action to truly start living according to your values in order to live with more fulfilment and contentment. 

When you align your behavior with your personal core values, you are living with integrity. The easiest way to do this is to create a list of daily/weekly actions you can take to ensure your daily activities are congruent with your values. 

For example, if health and wellness is one of your values, then exercising and eating well might be a priority. You might decide to meal prep every week or work out 3 times a day. 

Conclusion

I am so proud of you for taking a step towards living more authentically. Your personal core values will guide you along each decision, ensuring that you make decisions that are fully aligned with your version of a fulfilling life. And that’s what we all crave, right? Joy, fulfilment, happiness, even in difficult situations. And there is no bigger superpower than knowing exactly what you value and prioritize, especially in difficult and uncertain times. 

If you want guided support in digging deep to identify your personal core values, I invite you to book a 1:1 Free breakthrough session with me, so that you can truly get clear on the life you want to be living!