Core Values

I was listening to a podcast today by The Minimalists. I've heard this message before in their previous podcasts, but it was a good reminder. They were talking about how you need to discover what your core values are, and ensure that your daily actions and goals and thoughts are supporting those values.

Their core values are:
- Relationships
- Health
- Growth
- Passion
- Contribution

One of them mentioned that they view these core values like buckets of water: you're only going to be as happy as the lowest filled bucket. So basically, if you find yourself feeling unhappy or unfulfilled or out of balance, assess your core values and see which ones are lacking in your everyday life. Like maybe you're focusing a lot on your health and passions and growth, but you have been neglecting the people in your life, causing your relationship bucket to be depleted. Or you're spending a lot of time with your family and doing charity work, but you've been eating crappy food and not cultivating your passions enough.

I think this is a pretty good thing to keep in mind. Discover what your core values are, write them down somewhere or just have them in your head, and ask yourself often whether or not your daily actions are in line with those core values. Especially when you're feeling particularly down or uneasy. When I heard this, I realized this can very often explain some of my occasional periods of feeling unfulfilled in life. Because one or more of my core values aren't a part of my everyday life, and I need to correct that.

Thoughts? What are your core values, and do your daily actions illustrate that? After all, it can be said, "tell me what you do everyday, and I can tell you what your values are."

 

I think it's better to assess yourself on your own and determine what your values are. Or rather, become aware of them. I don't think using a questionnaire like that is necessary, but I suppose it might be a good starting point for some people.

 

Well first of all, you should come up with your own core values, because they might be different than these. But growth, to The Minimalists, means growth as a person, not monetarily or success growth. It means like... learning new things and improving yourself in some way.

That sounds nice contribution, for them, is about charity and giving. They do a lot of charity work. But again, that might not necessarily be one of your core values.

It is very relatable! It wasn't my hypothesis, though, I should be clear on that. All of this came from a podcast, and that particular quote was from Ryan Nicodemus.

That's some great self-reflection! I'm glad it got you thinking.

I haven't sat down yet and really thought about what my core values are, but I think they would probably be very similar to these five.

I think which buckets are lower in my life tends to ebb and flow. Right now I feel pretty full in all areas. Maybe lacking a bit in growth, at least spiritually. But that's why it's something we should consistently reassess, because life changes day to day, and maybe in a week from now, I will feel totally lacking in relationships or health. It's definitely a nice tool to have to go back to when you're feeling unfulfilled, because sometimes it can be hard to pinpoint why you feel that way. But if you've already done the work of figuring out what those core values are, you can have a better idea of what's missing when you feel a little empty.

Another cool thing is that a lot of things fall into multiple categories. Like for me, as a writer, when I go out and write, I'm cultivating my passion and I'm also growing. And if I go out somewhere and meet some new people while I'm doing it, that puts a little more water in my relationship bucket as well.