Knowing your Personal Core Values is good. But how do you turn your Core Values into something great? Something that makes your life better in a noticeable way…
Ask yourself right now. Is my life good or great?
If you’re like me, some bits of my life are good and some are great. I get to spend time being creative every day. That’s good. But what’s great is that, I get to work on my creative projects every day. That was a deliberate choice I made based on my Personal Core Values.
Ask yourself, what is good in your life right now that you’d like to make great?
Today, I’ll show you how to make that happen. And I’ll share the four ingredients you need to turn your core values from good to great. It’s like turning a good friend, into your best friend forever. And that’s why I’ve called this your Four Ever Values!
And imagine how your life would be if you were feeling great every single day. That would be, er… Great?
Ingredient 1 – Definition
Coming up with your values is like putting on a name tag at a speed dating event. When you sit opposite someone and all it says is ‘Rich’, you’re left wondering. Is that their name or are they bragging about their bank account?
Your values are the same. You need to know what they mean to you. Who is the person behind that value?
That’s why the first step for creating your FOUR Ever values is a DEFINITION.
A really good place to start when defining your values is a dictionary. But, that’s also a really bad place to finish.
- Yes, start with the dictionary. What does it say?
- Then look at the etymology or origin of the word, what does that say? Often this will lead to a fresh insight into the meaning of the word.
- And then comes the most important part. What’s your definition? When you create your own definition, it’s like going from black and white to colour. It’s a much richer experience because it’s personal to you.
This is crucial in going from good to great. A good life is living like everyone else. But a great life is living YOUR life!
Core Values Definition – My Example
For instance, my number one value is creativity.
What is creativity? It means a lot of different things to people.
- Dictionary: The use of imagination or original ideas to create something; inventiveness. (Source: Oxford)
- Etymology or Origin: Derives from the Latin creare: to make and the Greek Krelnein: to fulfil. This fits with the view of making art, creating videos or writing posts like this. (Source: Wiley)
- My Definition: Looking at things with fresh eyes.
That’s three different ways to define creativity. Which one is right? Well they’re your values and it’s your life so you get to say which one is right for you.
Ingredient 2 – Expressions
I used to be an architect. When I met people and they asked me what I did, I would naturally say ‘I’m an architect’. And then almost every single person I ever said that to asked the exact same question. It was like dogs and fleas. Or coffee and mornings. They would ask, ‘What sort of buildings do you design?’
This is how you go from good to great. You design your life and the way you live it.
This is the second step for creating FOUR Ever values. As soon as you write down your values, you want to ask, what sort of life would you design with these values?
What you’re looking for are expressions or examples of your values in action.
Creativity is an easy one. You would see me making videos like this, or writing books or creating artworks. But what about gratitude? That’s another one of my values. You might not see much, but you would hear me say ‘thank you’ a lot. It costs me nothing and it helps me support and honour the people I’m with.
Thank you for reading this post.
When you write down ways to express your values in everyday life you’re creating opportunities for yourself to live true to your values. And that’s the whole point of this exercise, right? Good to great.
Ingredient 3 – Doing
The third and fourth ingredients for your core values are like the yin and yang of each other. They’re two different but related pieces. And they give you two different ways to define your values and create expressions.
First, think of your definition as a doing. Creativity is making things. Gratitude is saying thank you. Happiness is smiling.
Can you see the connection between definition and expression? Your definition is likely to tell you what action to take. And that’s what doing is all about – it’s the visible actions you take.
What specific action are you going to take to express your values?
Go ahead and write down five to ten examples of you DOING each of your values. And look for the great actions – the things that get you excited about your life.
Ingredient 4 – Being
You might have been able to guess the fourth ingredient of your four-ever values. It’s the yin or yang of doing, the sister and brother, the fork and knife. It’s being.
Doing and being go together. You can’t have one without the other.
Most of us know what doing is. But what is being?
Your way of being is the attitude or approach you bring to a situation. For instance, you can be an optimist or a pessimist. It’s the same glass of milk, but a different attitude. A different way of looking at things.
Earlier I gave you examples of creativity. You can make things. You can come up with ideas. Or, by my definition, you can see things with fresh eyes. The first two are examples of doing creativity. The third one is an example of being creative. That’s why I prefer it. I can apply this to every moment of my day whereas doing applies to specific activities.
Some of your values will suit doing. And some of your values will suit being. For instance, we’re more likely to talk about being grateful – bringing gratitude to a conversation or a situation. But we can also say thank you as a way of doing gratitude.
By adding a way of being to your values, you’ll add flavour to your life in the same way that a Michelin star chef brings flavour to their meals.
Go ahead and write down ways that you can BE your values or that you can bring an attitude or way of being to your life.
More on Living True to Your Personal Core Values
Now that you’ve fleshed out your core values into the four-ever ingredients of definition, expressions, doing and being, you’re probably wondering… How do I put this all together? How do I live a value-driven life? A great place to start is to design your ideal day. Read these posts next to turn your personal core values into a great life and an ideal day.
- Determine Your Core Life Values in 3 EASY Steps
- How I wrote my Personal Manifesto in Under 10 Minutes! (Design Your Ideal Day)
- Top Ten Universal Human Values that Will CHANGE Your Life!
