Create Your Life Compass

Are you living a life that is true to your core values?

Research has shown that when our daily actions align with our core values, there are profound benefits:

• life satisfaction
• sense of fulfillment
• enhanced decision-making

Although the first two benefits are intuitive, how can following your core values help your decision-making skills?

This is because when faced with difficult decisions, a life choice that follows your core values will lead to a more fulfilled and happy life.

Core values are not just abstract concepts but practical tools. In this article, we'll explore specific steps to identify your core values and how to utilize them as your life compass.

What Are Core Values?

Core values are deeply held ideals that shape our behavior and guide our life decisions. In essence, they are a description of your character – what you will or will not accept.

Common core values are honesty, integrity, compassion, growth, pleasure, wealth, recognition, service, and more.

By identifying your core values, you create a personal compass that helps you navigate life's complexities.

Three Steps to Identify Your Core Values

1) Self-Reflection

Reflect on significant experiences that have shaped your life, both positive and negative. Moments that gave you profound happiness, despair, pride, anger, fulfillment, etc.

These will often hold clues to your core values.

Some prompts to help you reflect:

• What values were present in your happiest moments?
• In times of conflict, what values were being compromised?
• Think of the values of people you admire the most.
• Difficult decisions or challenges you faced.
• Milestones and turning points in your life.

2) Portrait Values Questionnaire (PVQ)

PVQ is a widely accepted value-assessment tool based on Schwartz's theory of values (Schwartz et al., 2001). With extensive research confirming its validity and reliability, it is a universal measure of personal values that drive our actions and thoughts.

A 5-minute online questionnaire will show you your score for each of the ten core values.

3) Integrate Both Approaches

Combine the results of your life reflections with the objective PVQ test to identify your core values. This integrated approach ensures that your values are deeply personal and validated by a reliable test.

From your list of values, identify the top 3 (your most important core values). These are your non-negotiable beliefs no matter the circumstances.

Applying Your Core Values

Once you've identified your core values, you can apply them in two important ways:

Mindful Living

Take the time to evaluate different areas of your life. Are your core values reflected in your relationships, career, hobbies, and health? Do they align with the life choices you have made?

Let's look at a few examples:

• Mark's core value is service to others. He is at a high-paying corporate job that he finds unrewarding.
• Sandy's core value is growth, but she has been in a stagnant position for years. Still, she stays because of job stability. She realizes that neglecting her need for growth is causing her unhappiness.

Knowing your core values makes it easier to understand why you might feel uninspired, unhappy, or "stuck". Neglecting or compromising your core values long enough will inevitably lead to a life filled with regrets.

If your actions don’t align with your stated values, ask yourself:

"Are these truly my core values, or are other beliefs influencing my behavior?"

This is also a good time to identify the bottom 3 values. Perhaps your typical week focuses too much on these "negotiable" values. Although every value has a merit, it will not make you feel fulfilled as much as your most important values.

Core Values as Your Life Compass

Navigating life is inherently complex, filled with difficult choices, changing circumstances, and ever-evolving goals in various facets of life. We often find ourselves at a crossroad, pondering a big career change, balancing family commitments with ambition, deciding whether to move homes, or contemplating early retirement.

Such decisions can feel overwhelming, especially when the path forward is unclear.

Remember that your core values serve as your north star. Even when the path forward seems unclear, aligning your life choices with core values will guide you to a fulfilling and happy life.

To continue the previous examples:

• Mark gets a job offer from a non-profit which aligns with his desire to help those in need. Although it is a lower-paying job, wealth is not one of his core values, but living in service of others is. The choice is clear: taking the non-profit job will make him happier.
• Sandy stays in her stagnant job because it is stable. However, neglecting her need for continued growth is causing her unhappiness. She realizes that she needs a new challenge that inspires her.

By staying true to your core beliefs, you can navigate tough life choices with confidence and clarity.

Your Life's North Star

Living by your core values is a powerful way to ensure that your life is both meaningful and aligned with your true self. Regularly assess if your core values are reflected in various areas of your life.

Remember, core values are not just abstract concepts but practical tools.

Whether it's to assess your current life, live intentionally, or guide you through a difficult life decision, your core values will show you the path forward.

Join me on a journey to redesign life, one step at a time! 👊