What Are the Benefits of Knowing What’s Most Important and How Does that Cultivate Self-Mastery?

Why do you hold your values to be true and why?

Knowing what you value in life will make a significant difference on,

1. The quality of your decisions;
2. The efficiency of your actions;
3. How swiftly you accomplish your goals, and;
4. How little you struggle.

Unfortunately, most people don't have clearly defined, written-out core values.

At best, they think they know what they value. Usually, what we call values are beliefs and morals we learned from our parents, society, or religion. That doesn't mean those values are good or bad.

If you don't know why you value what you call your values, the meaning you give to those values is NOT your own.

And if you don't know why you are not in control of your life. Values without individual meaning have no emotional alignment. When you know what you value and WHY, you have a focused lens through which you make decisions, create strategies, and take efficient action. If a choice isn't fully aligned with your core values, let it go and move on.

Values Are More Than Simple Words.

Knowing your values provides at least 4 considerable benefits to how you show up in life living your truth.

Your values,

1. Express beliefs you feel are important.
2. Act as a compass to point you in the right direction.
3. Provide prediction and response about who you want to be.
4. Serve as standards for your behaviour and transcend situations and environments.

Here's how to craft a powerful, effective, and emotionally aligned SINGLE Core Value — one you can call your own.

Get specific and highly detailed with your answers for greater clarity, meaning, and emotional alignment.

Step 1: Define your ONE Core Value.

Ask yourself:

1. What do I value above everything else in my life, right now?
2. Is there one value that I've always held to be true for most of my life?
3. Are my answers to 1 & 2 the same? 
   1. If yes, move on to Step 2. 
   2. If not, complete the remaining steps for each value, but only do one at a time. Then review your answers and notice which one feels more empowering and deeply meaningful. Choose that one as your core value. 

Step 2: Assess the energy and enthusiasm supporting the value.

Ask yourself:

1. What about that value excites me?

When you consider what’s important you are developing the skill of discernment. This is how you can make a difference in the quality of your decisions, the efficiency of your actions, and the ease with which you accomplish your goals.

Step 3: Assess the creative potential this value provides

Ask yourself:

1. What will focusing on this SINGLE Core Value help me accomplish?

When you use a narrow, focused lens to make all decisions, you will create effective strategies aligned with your goals. Make a list of what this value will help you to achieve.

Step 4: ‘Imagineer’ living your SINGLE Core Value.

Complete the following set of questions:

Ask yourself, "If I were living my SINGLE Core Value every day..."

1. How would that make me feel?
2. What would I be thinking?
3. What would I be saying to myself and others?
4. What would I be doing?
5. What would I NOT be feeling, thinking, saying, and doing?

This is by no means a perfect values exercise, but it's a useful practice to help you think more critically about what you value and why you believe that value to be true.

If you'd like to dig deeper into exploring your values and purpose, contact me for a complimentary discovery session.