Your core values are the drivers of your actions. They determine your focus and direction, help you prioritise your time and motivate you to persist in the face of setbacks. If you want to live a life that is aligned to your higher purpose, it is crucial that you identify your core values.

Here is a values list that you can download. The aim is to create a list of your top ten values, but I want you to begin by identifying 20 values on this list that really resonate with you. Feel free to add values that are important to you if they are not on the list.

Once you have identified your top 20, you need to begin the process of reducing it down to your TOP 10. It can be really hard to decide between two values that both seem really important. If I was to say to you that you can only choose 1 value – which one would it be? Now you have your number 1 value. Then if you could only choose 2 for your list – which one would you add to the number one value you have chosen? OK, so you get the idea. Go through your top 20 values, until you arrive at a list of your TOP 10 values.

Now reflect on your list. Are you surprised about what finished up at number 1 on your list? Is what you do with the majority of your time aligned with that number 1 value? If not, you may have an answer for why you have been feeling unfulfilled. Like me, you may also have a bit of an “aha” moment, where you realise that this lack of alignment is probably to blame for your lack of success with your business. You may have been subconsciously holding yourself back due to the lack on congruency.

Another key realisation is that your core values are not ultimately about what you want to get out of life. Rather they are about what you are here to give. For instance, if your top value is love, your main focus may have been on getting love. But really it is all about giving love. You need to give love to yourself in the first instance. Not until you are filled with love can you proceed to give it away. When you then give to others without any thought of return you will receive the deepest fulfilment. And then, strangely enough, your giving will result in you receiving back that which you give out. Being truly authentic makes you magnetic. Other people will be attracted to you. When you give out love, you get love back! Magic.

When I did this values exercise I was surprised to find that spirituality and consciousness were at the top of my list. Financial freedom and prosperity – the things I had been chasing after – were right at the bottom of the list. No wonder I had been getting nowhere and feeling really frustrated. Once I began to focus on my core values life became clearer and simpler, I had a sense of purpose and clarity about what my next steps should be, and life became more pleasurable, with a lovely sense of ease and naturalness.

I hope the core values exercise has been a significant piece of the puzzle in helping you put together the picture of your own unique higher purpose in life.

Leave a comment and let me know what your number 1 value is.

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