Author Insight:

Many people cannot express what their five to ten core values are and thus are living lives unconnected to them. This ambivalence can lead to a life of unhappiness, discontent, conflict and unease. Some may feel conflicted because they are trying to live a life according to the values of a certain company, religious or political organization, or the values of their friends and colleagues or their partner rather, than living a life according to their own core values.

If you feel your life is unfulfilled and unhappy or has too much conflict in it, then it may be that you are leading a life that is not in accord with your own core values. The question is: Do you know your own personal core values? Do you know whether or not you are expressing them in your daily life?

Author’s Excerpt: from CHAMPION YOUR CAREER: Winning in the World of Work

Let’s go jewel hunting for core values by considering the following question:

What in your life is important to you?

Step 1: Don’t think about your answers at first. Just write down whatever comes into your head no matter how strange, amusing or worrisome it may seem. These first answers are probably your intuitive answers; sometimes those are closer to the truth than answers that you “think” about.

Step 2: Now think carefully about what is important in life for you. Take some time to consider your answers before writing them down in a word or short phrase. Don’t worry if some of the same answers appear in your first list. Just write them down again.

Stay tuned for part two on What these two lists reveal.