Creating your Core Values List
If someone were to ask you, “What personal core values do you live by?”, would you have an answer?
Chances are, you’d have to make up your core values list on the spot.
I know there’s probably not a major likelihood that someone will actually ask you that question but nonetheless, do you think it’s a powerful question to have an answer for?
It’s interesting to note that most successful major corporations like Zappos, Whole Foods Market, Southwest Airlines, Google, and many others have a core values list. Any corporate consultant or top executive will tell you that the companies who live by a powerful core values list are much more likely to create long term success.
So if that’s a common factor for corporate success, why is it that most individuals have no defined set of core values to live by?
Core Values Lead to Happiness & Success
Personally, I believe having a personal core values list creates a much more happy, fulfilled and prosperous life. Having a personal core values list determines your priorities and can be a measure for you to tell if you are living the life you want to live.
When your actions match up with your personal core values list, life tends to be good – you experience more happiness and fulfillment. When your actions don’t match up with your values, this tends to lead to disappointment.
Core Values Make Life Easier
Life can be much easier when you’ve established a criteria to live by. Decisions are easy to make because you can always ask: “What decisions are in alignment with my Personal Core Values List?”
When you know your core values, you can use them to make decisions on how to live your life. Questions like:
- Should I start my own business?
- What job should I pursue?
- Should I do business with that person?
- Should I do a business deal or not?
- Should I help this person?
When you take the time to establish your personal core values, you can always refer to that list to know if the decision will lead to toward the ultimate life you want to live.
In just a moment, I’m going to give you some ideas on how to establish a core values list, but first I want to cover something crucial to this process…
Post Your Core Values List & Read It Daily
If you don’t keep the list in front of you, chances are, you’ll forget them. I post mine on my laptop so I see it every day. If you don’t spend a lot of time on your computer, post your list in your day planner, as an image on the home page of your phone, or anywhere that you’ll see it daily.
Having the list in front of you regularly creates a constant reminder of how to live. To further serve as a reminder, at the top of my core values list, I write “I ALWAYS…”
Here’s my list:
I Always:
– Am Grateful to God
– Have Fun
– Smile as much as possible
– Wow others with my Love & Generosity
– Am Authentic & Honest
– Look for Adventure
– Compliment others a lot
– Pursue Kaizen (constant and never ending improvement)
– Am Energetic
– Feel Confident & Self-Assured
How To Create YOUR Core Values List
When I created my first list, which has evolved over time, I decided to not only examine what the values I was already living by, but more importantly the core values list I WANTED to live by.
Begin by asking yourself: “Which core values, if you lived by them every day, would lead to the life you desire?”
Take a look at the list below and identify a list of about 8-12 of the values you believe would be the most powerful for you to begin implementing into your life.
Example Personal Core Values List:
- Abundance
- Acceptance
- Accomplishment
- Accountability
- Action
- Adventure
- Altruism
- Ambition
- Appreciation
- Aspiration
- Assertiveness
- Authenticity
- Balance
- Boldness
- Brilliance
- Calmness
- Caring
- Charity
- Clarity
- Commitment
- Community
- Compassion
- Connection
- Consideration
- Consistency
- Cooperation
- Courage
- Creativity
- Curiosity
- Decency
- Dedication
- Dependability
- Devotion
- Discipline
- Drive
- Easygoing
- Education
- Efficiency
- Empathy
- Encouragement
- Energy
- Enthusiasm
- Excellence
- Fairness
- Fairness
- Faith
- Family
- Fitness
- Flexibility
- Focus
- Forgiveness
- Fortitude
- Freedom
- Friendship
- Fulfillment
- Fun
- Generosity
- Genuine
- Giving
- Gracious
- Gratitude
- Growth
- Hardworking
- Health
- Helpful
- Honesty
- Honor
- Hope
- Humility
- Humor
- Industriousness
- Ingenuity
- Initiative
- Innovation
- Integrity
- Intelligence
- Joy
- Justice
- Justice
- Kindness
- Knowledge
- Leadership
- Learning
- Love
- Loyalty
- Mercy
- Moderation
- Modesty
- Open
- Open-Mindedness
- Optimism
- Originality
- Passion
- Patience
- Peace
- Perseverance
- Persistence
- Philanthropy
- Prudence
- Purpose
- Recognition
- Relationships
- Resourceful
- Respect
- Righteous
- Sacrifice
- Self-Discipline
- Self-Control
- Sincerity
- Sobriety
- Spirituality
- Stamina
- Strength
- Success
- Supportive
- Temperance
- Thoughtful
- Tolerance
- Tranquility
- Transcendence
- Trust
- Truth
- Understanding
- Valor
- Vigor
- Virtue
- Vitality
- Wisdom
I hope this is more than enough information to get you started. Thanks for reading today’s post.
Make Life An Adventure!
P.S. If you haven’t subscribed to my newsletter, be sure to opt-in with your name and email at the top right of this page so you know exactly when blog posts and videos are released.