Your Core Values form the basis of who you are, how you interact and work with others and drive every important decision you make, but few people actually stop to think about what their core values actually are.
In this episode, we talk about Core values and how knowing what yours are can have a major effect on how you make decisions and what direction you will take next in your career.
When defining your Burning Passion it’s hugely important that your Core Values align with the other elements of your talents and skills, your Success Vision and what Lights You Up.
Why? Because if they are out of alignment, you will eventually find you are frustrated or unhappy in your new life, as your most central needs are not being met.
Links in this episode
Grab my FREE GUIDE! ‘How to find your burning passion (and re-ignite your career and life)’
James Clear https://jamesclear.com/core-values
James Clear Book Atomic Habits
Don’t have time to listen right now? No worries, here are some of the highlights!...
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Let’s start with what exactly Values are.
We all have values, whether you have thought about them or not. They are at the heart of your decisions and help you to determine what is important to you, how you interact with others, how you live your life and how you work.
There are hundreds of potential values, far too many to mention here, but to give you an idea they are things like Achievement, Compassion, Challenge, Friendship, Growth, Happiness, Justice, Leadership, Security, Self-Respect, Success, Trust and Wisdom.
Your values have been developed through your experiences throughout your childhood, teen years and early adulthood. They are also influenced by those of your parents, other close family members, or other important people in your life, and the culture, society and religion you grow up in also can have an impact,
So what are Core Values?
If you have ever worked for a Company, you will have heard of the company values. These are usually around five values that are central to the company, which are constantly repeated and referred to.
The company core values are the foundation of how the company operates, and how employees work with each other and with customers and suppliers.
Well, your personal Core values are like company values, they are your non-negotiables. The root beliefs that you live your life from. They are the principal perspectives that guide your behaviour with others and shape your key decisions. They form the basis of your personal brand...what you are known for! What people say about you when you are not in the room.
You can have a lot of values but you will only have around 3 to 6 true core values.
And when there is a conflict, your core values will win out over other values. For example, if trust is a core value and a good friend has broken that trust, you will have to call them out on it and will be willing to end the relationship, even if one of your values is friendship.
Your core values can make you feel strongly (sometimes irrationally) about something. It’s a visceral feeling and can bring anger, unhappiness, unfulfillment or frustration when they are opposed. Or contentment, fulfilment and happiness when they are in harmony.
Think of when you hear something on TV or read it in a newspaper that really hits a nerve and makes your blood boil. That is probably because the topic is contrary to your deepest core values.
So, you can imagine, if you’re working in a job that is contrary to one or more of your core values, you’ll never be completely happy. There will always be an underlying feeling of unease, frustration and unhappiness!
But can your core values change?
Your values in general change and develop as you grow into early adulthood.
However, once they are set your core values remain much the same throughout adulthood.
But, they may re-order in level of priority temporarily while you are going through a certain time of change, where one value has more prominence , or can even remain in a different order depending on the circumstances.
You may also add or subtract some values when you enter into new stages of your life, such as marriage and having children or even just getting older. For example, family or balance may not have a huge amount of importance when you are younger but when you have children they may become more important.
The one thing that can change your top 3 core values is if you go through something in life that has a profound effect on you like illness, bereavement or a big change in circumstances like devastating divorce or bankruptcy, you can have a major shake up of your core values.
So we all have core values, why is it important to know specifically what your core values are in relation to your career?
Well, knowledge is power and knowing your core values will help you start working with them, rather than against them. They can be your greatest assets.
Why do Companies define their core values? Because they help in company decision making processes, they lead to a stronger employer brand, they positively impact the general brand experience, help make them stand out from the competition and help contribute to the overall success of a business.
In other words, it is not done for fun, there is real evidence of the importance of core values to companies success!
Understanding what your own core values are is just as important!
First, it will help identify who you are and what is really most important to you
You may already think you know what your core values are. And maybe you do. But how much have they been shaped by others and what you think you should care about? Sometimes if your family or the culture you grow up in has strong values, you feel that you should follow them too, even if you don’t really feel a connection to them.
When you are honest with yourself when defining your core values, you can usually find at least one or two ‘should’s’! It does not mean they are not a value of yours, but they are not central to your way of living.
Next, knowing your core values helps you identify what is wrong in your current situation
If you have wondered why you feel frustrated in your career or business and others you work with are perfectly happy, it's probably because subconsciously you know are not aligned to your core values. This shows up in your emotions and that feeling in your gut that you get when you know something is wrong.
Like if justice is important to you, you just can’t let it go when you feel something is deeply wrong, even if you know intellectually the best course of action is to move on or ignore it.
In a work context….
If you have family or balance as a core value but have to work late and at weekends, that will have far more of a negative impact on you than it does your colleague who does not put the same value on time with their family.
By identifying your core values, you can identify what is out of line in your current circumstances at work and either try and make changes to fix it, or make sure that you do not find yourself in the same situation when you move on.
The third reason is... easier decision making in relation to your next steps
When you consider your core values in decision making, you can look at any decision through the lens of those values, so you can be confident that wherever you decide will work for you in the long term.
So whether you are asking yourself ‘should I change career, start a new business, move country, go for that promotion or transform my life completely’, your core values will be your anchor and your guide and you’ll know that what you're doing is best for your current and future happiness and satisfaction.
Knowing your core values helps with will-power…
Doing something you care about, that's important to you, can be a powerful motivator. So if you work in an area that is aligned with your core values and you find meaning in it the more motivated you will be. As humans, we have a true need to know why we are doing something, or motivation can be low.
Finally, your core values help build your personal brand
As you look to make a change in your career you need to think about how you want to be viewed, what you want others to say about you when you are not in the room. Use your core values as the principles that will guide your actions and what you say, so that your personal brand is true to you and whatever path you decide to take, you’ll be clear on who you are and what you want.
How do you define your core values??
Companies spend a huge amount of time and money working out what their core values are.
But don’t worry, for personal core values, you don’t have to spend money, but you do need to spend Here are a few pointers….
- Think about when you have been most fulfilled and happy. When something has lit you up. When you are energised and motivated. Think of clear examples and write them down.
- Think about when you are watching or reading the news, what stories tend to inspire you, what makes you angry?
- Find a list of potential values, there are lots to be found online. James Clear , the habits guru, and author of ‘Atomic Habits’ has a good list on his website (link below). I also have a list of values in my free guide ‘ How to find your burning passion and re-ignite your career and life’, along with a detailed step by step exercise (link below). With the examples you have already thought of in mind, now consider what values jump out at you instinctively. What values are related to those moments? Maybe it was when you won an award, so Achievement or Success could be related values. Maybe it was when you were promoted so Recognition could be the value.
- Select the top 20 values that that most resonate with you. It does not mean there are not others that are important but those relate most to you.
- Then look at those 20 values and select just 10 you want to keep by comparing them with each other.
- From the 10 remaining values narrow them down to up to 6. If you have more than six, really examine them again and pretend that I or someone else wants to take that core value away from you. Do you have a strong reaction and want to grab it back OR could you let it go?
- When you have your final six (or less, you don’t have to have 6) core values, then list them in order of priority, as that will help you if you have conflicts between your values when making a decision.
And that's it! When core values and should have a better understanding of yourself and what is important to consider when planning your career change.
So do take the time to discover more about yourself and what’s really important to you!
You won’t regret it!
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