In order to help my coaching clients focus on and move toward their goals, I ask them to do a values clarification exercise. Some of you may ask doula clients to do a values clarification exercise to help them become clear on what is most important to them with regard to their upcoming birth. In the same way, clarifying your core values, or the characteristics that mean the most to you in life, can reap the following benefits for you:

• When you choose to do an activity, explore a field of study, school or parent your children in a particular way, your values are what drives you and keeps you going. They keep you motivated to stay the course and see things through.
• When you value something, you tend to pay more attention to it, nurture it, expand it.
• When choosing to take on a new project or responsibility, see how it resonates with your values. If it doesn’t, you’ll know that you can either say “no” to it, or find some way to outsource or get help with it so it gets done.

Exercise:

Today, you are going to explore your core values.

Here is a short list of values: Love, Family, Respect, Courage, Honesty, Leadership, Power, Intelligence, Beauty, Happiness, Freedom, Justice, Learning, Trust, Compassion, Success, Kindness, Humor, Fame, Adventure, Ambition, Excellence, Diligence, Curiosity, Loyalty.

If you want a more exhaustive list, Steve Pavlina offers one here.

In looking at this list, what would you consider to be your top five values? If you’re not sure, here’s another way to figure out your values: Think of 3-5 influential people in your life. They can include people you know personally or otherwise. What characteristics do they display that you admire? Once you have that list, read it again slowly. You admire these traits because they are in you too. These are your values, whether you live them actively in your life or not

When you’ve determined your top five values, write a sentence that explains what it means to you in your life. This helps solidify what these values mean to you.

Finally, you may want to post these up somewhere in your home, or put them on an index card and carry them with you. Become conscious of your values. During the busy holiday season, we sometimes have a tendency to overextend ourselves. If you are asked to do something and you’re not sure whether to accept it, take a look at your values. If what you’re being asked to do is a match to your values, see if you can take it on. Otherwise, decline.

How else can you use your values as a guide?

Join me next time and I’ll show you how you can determine how balanced your life is.

These posts may also inspire you:

1. The Power of Words in Visual Form
2. What Will It Take To Feel The Fire Within?
3. The Inner Work of Building Your Birth Business – The Spiritual Aspect – Part 2
4. How Balanced are the Various Areas of Your Life?
5. What’s Working and Not Working For You?