These Two Questions Will Help You Discover Your Core Values

 

Do you have a thinking chair? For as long as I can remember, I’ve had a chair that I call my thinking chair. It’s my favorite chair in the whole house. This chair is where I go to think, reflect, and evaluate.

I vividly remember what happened on a sunny afternoon in my thinking chair almost a decade ago…

One Sunday afternoon in June 2005, I sat down in my thinking chair. I don’t know how to explain it, but I was finally ready to discover “Who am I”.

The afternoon revolved around two questions, and I think so highly of these questions that I believe:

Every person can discover “who am I?” by asking themselves two simple questions.

First question

I asked the following question of myself to get started:

What are the things that I have a passion for, things that I get excited about, and things that give me energy?

I wrote down some words that came to my mind as I thought about this question. These words formed a list down the left side of the page.

Second question

Then I thought about looking on the “other side of the coin”, and asked myself the following question:

What are the things, that when left undone, make me angry, mad, upset, and even foaming at the mouth?

Then I jotted down some words in answer to that question. I listed these words down the right side of the page. The entire page contained about 30 words.

As I continued to think about these questions and reviewed the two lists, I realized that there were similar words on both sides of the page. I circled the matching words and came up with six-word pairs.

Core values emerge!

When I looked at those words, it hit me…WOW!!! This is “Who I am”! These two simple questions had helped me uncover my true core values.   The six words common to both lists were:

• Personal Growth

• Integrity

• Add-Value

• Excellence

• Relationships

• Significance

I was able to finally discover “Who am I?” only after spending weeks and months going through the process of thinking and reflecting on the questions in the previous blog post.

Isn’t it interesting that these two, very different questions yielded several similar ideas?

It’s your turn

What if these same two questions hold the key to unlocking your core values? What might happen if you set aside time to really think about these two questions, and then took time to reflect on your answers?

The purposes of a person’s heart are deep waters, but one who has insight draws them out.  Proverbs 20:5

I’ve learned that everyone must discover their own core values. My list is not THE list of values – we each have a unique set of core values.

I’ve made a simple template for you to use in your own core values journey. It’s free, and you can view it immediately by clicking here. It lists the two questions from above and has a table where you can jot down your answers to the questions. You can print it or save it for your own use.

What is one of your core values? Have the two questions above helped you in your own Core Values journey?