Introduction: Your Values as Your Internal Compass

Your values are the principles that guide how you lead and make decisions. Once you define and adhere to them, you experience more ease, alignment, and purpose in your life. Without them, however, you will experience friction and/or fatigue. Making decisions becomes more difficult, and boundaries are unclear. This exercise helps you reconnect with what matters most so you can lead with greater intention and stay grounded during times of change and pressure.

Clarifying your values is like strength-training for your inner compass. 

Let’s Get Started
Select your top 10 from the provided list of values. You can download and print this document, or just scan the list and jot them down. Feel free to add your own values if you don’t see them expressed on this list. 

Next, whittle your top 10 down to 5.

Stand up, take a deep breath, and move around for a minute. If you have time to go for a walk, do so. Then look at the list again and do the difficult task of removing 2 to reveal your top 3.

A word of caution
This exercise is for you, not for anyone else. Resist choosing values based on guilt or “shoulds.”

Use Your Body to Test
When you are finished, looking at your top 3, your body will likely feel lighter. Things may seem brighter. If you feel heavy or burdened, this list is likely off, and you’ll want to re-examine it. Your body and mood will reflect how aligned you are.

Call Friends or Family to Test
Call someone close to you and share your top 3. Do they agree? Is there something they think you overlooked? You can share the list with them and see what they believe are your top 3 based on how you consistently embody or prioritize your life. When one leader called his wife and shared his top 3, his wife encouraged him to choose “excellence” instead of “family.” She cited multiple examples of how excellence showed up in his life. It’s not that family didn’t matter to him; of course, it did. But excellence was the value that lit him up and drove so many of his decisions. This is how friends and loved ones can challenge you to stay grounded in truth or help you embrace a value you might have otherwise judged or overlooked.

Abundance
Achievement
Adventure
Ambition
Autonomy
Authenticity
Awe
Beauty
Belonging
Boldness
Bravery
Brilliance
Care
Comfort
Commitment
Community
Compassion
Confidence
Connection
Consciousness
Contribution
Control
Cooperation
Correctness
Country
Courage
Creativity
Curiosity
Decisiveness
Dependability
Depth
Determination
Devotion
Dignity
Diversity
Duty
Ease
Education
Effectiveness
Elegance
Empathy
Energy
Enthusiasm