You're going to love/hate this approach to figuring out your core values

You need something to stand on in order to take off.

In “Man of Steel”, that was how Clark learned to fly.

The same idea applies here.

This exercise takes anywhere between 15 minutes to an hour, but it will save you a lot of confusion when it comes to moving forward with a lot of things in life.

It also brings clarity in retrospect to all that you’ve accomplished up to this point from who you decided to love, what you decided to pursue, and where you decide to go.

Here’s how I figured out my core values.

1. Define your top 5

I’ve shared this in a previous post, but it bears repeating (as nobody has the time or patience to search through all those writings, right?)

So here’s the link to the exercise, but I also want to re-emphasize its importance here.

You could benefit from ranking them in terms of importance to you, but the truth is that it depends on a lot of factors and situations as to which takes front and center. It’s not cut and dry, and there’s a lot of grey area in between your guiding principles…

but they’re there as a reference to help you understand what makes you tick.

Here are my top 5 core values:

1. Agency - the “can do” attitude and choice

2. Gratitude - be thankful for all that comes your way

3. Connection - know that you are one among many

4. Persistence - execution in the face of friction

5. Self-development - hone the mind, body, and spirit

And yes, they haven’t changed. In fact, with The Digital Heirloom, they feel much more cohesive and foundational (and why I haven’t given up).

If you have more time and feel up for it, I’d recommend the next one as well…

Lightning round answers

Again, I won’t rehash what I’ve gone through in the past, but I will reference you to this wonderful article from Jason Cohen.

If you’re interested in reading my responses, you can look through them here as well as an extra something special using AI to give further insight.

As a general rule of thumb for me, when I respond to these types of questions, I don’t give myself too much time to dwell on them.

The longer you sit with these things, the longer you give yourself a chance to lie to yourself about your true nature.

Yes, it’s a little cynical in some respects, but I’m not here to sugarcoat anything for you.

If you want non-fiction, don’t edit yourself out of the story.

Take a moment to reflect and keep this in mind…

To recap, you want to figure out the core values that define and guide you.

Now you’ve got:

• one exercise to take your time with…

• one exercise to give you perspective from raw reaction…

• and a bonus one that I’m throwing in here just for fun.

And yes, you really only have to do the first one to get the fabulous five values.

If you have that, the other two are just stress tests (and there are tons of those out there anyway).

Let me know what you find out if you feel like sharing in the comments!