Identifying your core values can help you feel inspired, fulfilled
Core values drive who we are. They’re the backbone of our personalities; our most deeply held beliefs. So, it’s useful to know what they are.
When we can name the foundational ideals that make us tick, we can align our lives with what really matters to us. We can more understandingly and supportively take care of our own needs. We can feel more clarity and confidence in who we are. We can be our own friends.
But core values aren’t always obvious.
Sure, they’re central to who we are, but they’re also somewhat hidden: Our core is under our surface.
For example, I could easily ramble off a laundry list of values that are important to me: family, community, honesty, leadership, communication, connection, peacefulness, intentionality, success, productivity, friendship, love. I could go on. There are a lot of things I really value. Pinpointing the ones that are most essential to who I am takes effort and introspection. Also, coaching.
Enter my dear friend and my personal wellness coach Lee Moffett.
Moffett gave a workshop on this topic last week, and in hearing her talk about it, my ears perked. It’s not just her pupils at Yoga Tres in Bellaire who could benefit from identifying their core values. I could, too. We could.
So, I had Moffett walk me through the process of excavating our unique core values.
To start, she advises journaling — free-writing responses to the following:
• What milestones are you most proud of ?
• What are your greatest gifts or strengths?
• What are the most important values you want to pass on?
• Who do you respect most in your life and what are their values?
• What do you like to talk about and what do you do in your free time?
After answering these questions, Moffett suggests looking back at the page to extract reoccurring themes and keywords. For example, when she did the exercise herself, the core values that stood out in her journal were family, growth and leadership.
That was helpful for her to see.
Moffett has three young kids. Her last few years have been devoted to caretaking, but her children are getting older and it’s time for her to pivot. Identifying her core values makes her foundation clear. She knows exactly what to build on.
“It gives me freedom and direction,” she says.
She has launched a holistic health coaching practice, Lee Moffett Wellness (leemoffett wellness.com), where she sees clients one on one and runs workshops (“The Mama Collective” is coming in October). Her core values are the center of it all.
If that inspires you as much as it inspires me, grab your journal and dig into these questions. Let’s name our values — and live them.
Marci Izard Sharif is an author, yoga teacher, meditation facilitator and mother. In Feeling Matters, she writes about self-love, sharing self-care tools, stories and resources to know and be kind to yourself.