Values Exercise – 3 steps to truly living your brand
Why we should consider our values.
Your values are effectively your moral compass, they guide and direct you in all your decisions – good and bad, they are with you all the time and are the basis of your belief system.
Being clear about what your values are and the level of their importance to you are critical when you are making major decisions – be they in relation to your career, life or the people around you.
They are a critical part of the foundation for your personal brand and quite often are a great starting point for defining the other key components of that foundation – namely Vision, Purpose and Passions.
Think of Oprah or the Dalai Lama – these are strong examples of people who live their values every day and much if not all of what they do is driven by their core values.
Where your values show up
If this is not something that you have really consciously considered before, just start off by observing and listening out for times when something happens that concerns or upsets you and ask yourself why that would be the case. It’s very likely that it is one of your core values that are being compromised.
Identifying your values
When you are ready to take things a little further you can step in to the values identification exercise, which is the first part of a three step process.
Step 1
At this page link VALUES LIST there is a page of words that could be considered values. Print that page or keep the separate page browser open and start to exclude the words that have no meaning for you or do not resonate. At the same time circle or underline the words that do mean something to you, they stir an emotion or thought – which could be good or bad. If there are words that you cannot see that mean something to you add them in go to the VALUES LIST
Try to get that list down to a manageable number of 10 words and then pick the top 3 words that you really feel connection to, that you feel truly speak to who you are.
Step 2
Now take some time to think more deeply about those values and what they mean to you. Try and explain that and capture it in a sentence that really defines that value for you. Even though the word is the same as someone elses they might well have a very different meaning and that is okay.
Step 3
Take a look again at your top 3 and their definitions and now try to score on a scale of 1 – 7 how that value is turning up in your life right now. Are you really living that value, expressing it in all you do – if so score yourself a 7, if it is never showing up score yourself a 1. Likelihood for many of us it’s somewhere in between.
Coaching Fieldwork
Take a look at a value that you have scored low, maybe the lowest. Now for the next 90 days make a commitment to review at the start and end of each day that value. At the start of the day decide on an action that is going to move that score up and make that value more in your life. At the end of the day review your actions and see if you achieved what you set out to do.
Not only will you feel more connected in what you do, but you will feel more authentic, being who you are and taking positive steps to live that every day – exuding and communicating your brand.