Q 2: Get clear

Next – go through the list in front of you and decide if all of them need to be there.

Keep only the absolute deal-breakers. The ones that have a tug on your heart. Like – you can’t be without those values. You just wouldn’t be your best most true to yourself self. 

Beware here of listing values you may have taken from your parents. Or values imprinted on you by your environment. REALLY self check. 

One more thing: these are not your core values forever. They’re the ones for right now. 

One of the few certainties in life is constant change (at least of everything around you). So your values too can, should, and will change as you go through your life. Let them support and enhance you by remaining aware of what they are at each step.

Delete what doesn’t need to be there.

Re-list the rest in order of importance – most important first.

Now – see if any of them are the same thing and reconcile them into one term. Like “love” and “being kind to living things” can be one and the same (in what it means to you). You can reconcile both into “love”.

Or “trusting in yourself” and “trusting in a higher Being” – that can be interchangeable depending on the context – you could reconcile it as “trust”.

These are values we each hold dear and deep. They’re built into us from day one. 

See what terms you can join up into same meaning. Re-write your more concise list on a new sheet of paper.

Your actions for this step:

Take your extensive list from the previous page:

• keep only the “deal-breakers” for you at this moment in your life;
• delete what doesn’t need to be there;
• re-list the rest in order of importance – most important first;
• see if any of them are the same thing and reconcile them into one term;
• re-write the values you’re left with on a fresh page.

When you’re happy with your list – click to Q3