Thanks for being here.
The Core Values Workbook (£5), sorry, it's not free anymore and it's not a quick tick box, list of words or cheat sheet, you deserve more. It's not a two-page document simply asking you to 'choose the words that you reflect you most'. See, discovering your core values takes time, and it takes a lifetime of constant action to aligning your life with your values.
Your core values are reflected in all areas of your life, they aren't switched on and off from the workplace to home.
They are your guide, your compass, they are the foundations of your goals, dreams, and aspirations. It's not a paper exercise, they aren't a collection of words that sit in a notebook, they - if you let them - will help you make better choices and decisions, and support you in all areas of your life.
What are core values?
Deeply rooted fundamental beliefs. Guides that dictate your behavior and actions. The foundations of what is driving your decisions. Ingrained principles that help you declare who you are and what you stand for.
If you don't know what you stand for, you'll fall for anything
Too many of us are sacrificing who we are.
We become own traitors: turning our backs on our own core in order to fit in, be liked, and not break our own hearts. We abandon what we know is true for us because the journey ahead may be difficult, challenging and met with resistance and misunderstanding from others.
We want to be able to say who we are and what we stand for. We want to bring out what is inside us, we want to express what we believe is true for us. We want to live our lives in a way that makes sense, no more rattling around in lives that we didn't design or want and most of all we want to bring meaning to all that we are and all that we do.
My goal isn't to help you find a set of words so you 'know your values'. My true work is helping you deploy the most authentic version of you, that includes supporting you to live in alignment with who you are and what you were put here to do.
Downloading the Core Values Workbook is the easy part. Printing it out, getting a pen, sitting down and giving yourself the time to completing it, well, then it gets a little more tricky.
If you make it that far, the next part, aligning your life to what you discover that's your lifelong task and, no doubt it can be challenging and demanding.
Core values work is deep work.
You might wrestle to come up with answers to the questions in the workbook, you might question if you are speaking your truth or someone else's for you. you may find that the workbook creates a new 'problem', because once you know what you are standing for you have to work out a solution to express it in the world.
Why discover your core values?
Because the first step in deploying your authentic self is this: you have to know who you are. It doesn't matter if you are wanting to know them for your life, career, business, relationships - the context doesn't matter because you are the common denominator for all of it.
And that really means ...
- You'll stop going back and forth when you are trying to make decisions and quit spinning your wheels when you have choices to make.
- You'll be able to face the way you (really) want to go in life, and if you align with them you can turn away from actions and decisions that are not for you. You may not be your values (they may change as you grow and develop) but they are the best signpost and guide you've got.
- If you've ever found yourself starting stuff and not finishing it, or diving into things that are meant for someone else this can stop. You can create your map and plan.
- Know your 'why' in all your activities.
- You'll find goal setting easier because if it doesn't match the value, why do it? All goals can be traced back to your values. How do I know? How many have you not completed because you weren't committed?
- Be able to refer to your core values when making strategic decisions about what you want to create and why. If you find yourself looking outside yourself at what everyone else is doing, copying it and wondering why it's not working, well, it's probably because you are way off the path with your core.
- Stand behind your story of why you exist and the difference you want to make.
- Serve better.
About the Core Values Workbook
Once you've purchased you'll receive the 30 page Core Values Workbook that will help you reflect, explore and begin the process of aligning and living with your values. You'll also receive Living Moxie updates from time to time if you don't want these there is always an 'unsubscribe' button on every email I send.
The workbook is split into 4 sections:
Section 1: Reflect
The writer, Carl Sandburg wrote (and I am applying it to women too), “It is necessary ... for a man to go away by himself ... to sit on a rock ... and ask, 'Who am I, where have I been, and where am I going?”
If you aren't living your core values you may find that you are living values, beliefs, ideas, thoughts, words and customs belong to others.
This section will help you work out if this is true for you.
Section 2: Explore
In my experience - when working with you in career transitions and your business - you will identify the values, and because you 'have them' - written in black and white - you think that's enough to answer those questions.
But then, when you begin to align and live them, you may realise that you weren't fully committed after all, that the real value may have been something you have never expressed publicly before.
You will know if you fully are aligned to your values by what you do and behave, not by what you say. If you haven't already done so, reading this post 'What Are Core Values?' will explain that further.
Section 3: Align
You've Reflected and Explored, and then comes Alignment.
As you start to consider where you aren't living your core values and how you can take small, incremental steps every day to point yourself in the direction that makes sense to you.
Section 4: Live
It takes guts. A heck of a lot of moxie. Complete courage, confidence and bravery to head the way you know makes sense in your head and heart - even when you are faced with resistance (from yourself and others), barriers, hurdles, unknown bumps in the road when you begin.
This is a lifelong commitment.
What people have said:
It is crucial to our work that staff have not only the ability to carry out the tasks involved but also a genuine commitment to empowering people. Dawn, due to her extensive operational experience are fully aware of our need for this value base and draws it to the fore in her trainees. This means that the people we recruit from her courses are to a large extent pre-equipped with this insight into why we do things in the way we do. Service Manager, Social Care Provider
Dave said: Excellent overview – very nice job – I am doing this with my family to determine my family’s core values – thanks for all your work…
Wilson said: Thanks for all your effort sharing these really Life Helpful words. It’s time to take control of one’s life when there’s such realization and I’m up for this journey NOW!
Will said: This is a real eye opener, and has motivated me to do something I’ve not done any time in my lifetime.
Amy said: I found this so revealing.
Malcolm said: Why aren't we given this information in school? It would have saved me a lot of wasted years.
Simon said: I completed this why my family at the weekend. I don't know how it will go but the talking alone was so valuable. Thank you.