There are eight different sections to this exercise: Physical, Intellectual, Emotional, Spiritual, Relationship with Nature, Relationship with Others, Relationship with Self and Daily Purpose.
Choose all or some of these, or add new ones. Focus on each of these areas separately. Reflect on how you see yourself. For example: Relationship with Others. Ask yourself, “How am I with others?” Jot down a list of words that describe how you see yourself being with other people. Don’t filter out the negative words or feelings because they are part of the answer. And, don’t think too hard. Write down the words as they come and move on to the next section.
After you have come up with at least 8 to 10 words for each section, then it is time to write your core value statements. Take a look at the words you have written. What images come up for you? What feelings? What is there in that moment? What is important to you?
If there are a lot of negative feelings, reflect on them and ask yourself, “By feeling these what am I saying no to?” or “By feeling these what am I saying yes to?” Then focus on what it is you truly desire here; what you may have been denying yourself. Write a sentence or two that encompasses the essence of each section.
Your core value statements will remind you of your potential. If you choose to do this exercise, I suggest that you do it before reading my core value statements. That way you won’t have any expectations. Have fun!
My core value statements
Physical
I dance along my life’s path with purpose, appreciating each nurturing breath of spirit that breathes through my physical body.
Intellectual
Innovative and beautiful thoughts cast rainbows of light that illuminate adventurous journeys into the deep cosmos of my mind.
Emotional
My innocent spirit grows stronger and more light-hearted with every joyful tear I shed.
Spiritual
I trust and allow the loving pulse of my spirit to connect me with the wisdom of life’s mysteries.
Relationship with Nature
Mother Earth supports my journey with unconditional love, warming my heart with appreciation and gratitude.
Relationship with Others
I accept and trust the boundaries I have set, and know that my heart is listening and no longer fearful.
Relationship with Self
I am courageous and forgiving of myself. I effortlessly and gratefully accept and appreciate who I am.
Daily Purpose
I am happy and at peace, knowing that each day brings forth an abundance of health, wealth and love.
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26 comments
Comments feed for this article
July 24, 2008 at 3:22 am
Barbara Swafford
Hi Davina,
I like your final statement (under daily purpose). It sounds like a perfect day. 🙂
July 24, 2008 at 10:40 am
Robin
I think my daily purpose is to express myself as truly as I possibly can.
July 24, 2008 at 12:25 pm
Laurie | Express Yourself to Success
Hi Davina ~
This is a wonderful way to organize self-reflection and establish some life direction. I like that you deal directly with negative feelings and not try to avoid them. Thanks for offering this.
July 24, 2008 at 12:32 pm
MizFit
this came into my world on the VERY DAY I needed it.
thank you.
July 24, 2008 at 2:01 pm
Cath Lawson
Hi Davina – this is a brilliant idea. I love your relationship with self. That is so important isn’t it? By being accepting and forgiving yourself, it makes it far easier to accept and forgive others.
July 24, 2008 at 8:17 pm
Urban Panther
Wow! You put up really fun exercises. It really focused my thoughts on how I live my life.
I loved your statements! Here are 4 of mine:
Physical – With a smile and sparkle in my eyes, I tune into the wonders of my physical body.
Emotional – I move through my life content and happy, exploring my passions and love.
Spiritual – I honour the Lord and Lady, and revel in the third stage of womanhood, the Crone, having passed successfully through maid and mother.
Daily Purpose – Love. Laugh. Smile.
July 24, 2008 at 11:11 pm
Tom Volkar
Hi Davina, I must say that identifying my four core values was the number one factor in beginning to make d good work decisions. Now if an opportunity isn’t aligned with my values I just say no thanks. Have you taken Thomas Leonard’s values assessment? I found it to be excellent.
May I suggest you get the subscribe to this post plug-in? It makes it so much easier for commenters to know if you’ve answered their questions.
July 25, 2008 at 2:32 am
davinahaisell
Hi Barbara. We all deserve a perfect day!
Hi Robin. Well said; you are living it! 🙂
Hi Laurie. You are welcome. Yes, sometimes negative feelings aren’t as real as we think when we shed a little light on them. Thanks for stopping by.
Hi MizFit. Thanks for dropping in. I am happy that you found what you needed for this day. Cheers!
Hi Cath. Yes, that is so true. Interesting how that works. When you open the door to yourself, then others can enter.
Hi Urban Panther. I love your statements! Thanks for sharing. I like the first one; the smile and the sparkle in your eyes. There’s a spark there!
By the way… you are my 100th comment since I started this blog. Thanks for being a part of the party.
Hi there Tom. Another new visitor. Glad you popped by. No I haven’t taken Thomas’s assessment. I’m curious now and will check it out. As I will the plug-in you mentioned. I’m still learning about this whole blogging world. Thanks for the advice.
July 25, 2008 at 9:27 pm
Urban Panther
100th comment…cool! I have something to celebrate tonight! (okay, yes, I celebrate at the drop of a hat) Congrats to you. Milestones are fun!
July 26, 2008 at 2:26 pm
Marelisa
What an interesting exercise Davina. I guess having core values gives you a firm foundation on which to stand regardless of what else might be going around you. Also, if you have a choice before you and are not sure what to do, you can always refer to your values and choose the option that is in line with them.
July 26, 2008 at 6:26 pm
davinahaisell
Hi again Tom.
I’ve done some research about the subscribe to this post plug-in and apparently I can’t upload it because my blog is self-hosted. Only the independent hosted blogs have access to the plugins. I will eventually be moving my blog to an independent host. I’ll let you know when.
Hi Marelisa. You are exactly right! The core values act like a compass.
July 26, 2008 at 9:47 pm
Al at 7P
Hi Davina,
I just came over from Liz Strauss’s Blog-to-Show. Hey, I recognize your name from Barbara’s blog!
These are great core value questions. I think so many people believe they know their values, but once they are faced with asking themselves, they may discover someone they don’t recognize.
Also, I like how you separated the mental aspect as “intellectual” and “emotional” since they really are unique.
July 26, 2008 at 10:16 pm
veredd
“I am forgiving of myself” is a big goal of mine!
July 27, 2008 at 4:40 pm
davinahaisell
Hi Al.
I recognize you from Barbara’s blog too. Glad you stopped by; you beat me to the punch. There are so many commenters blogs that I want to visit and yours is one of them. I popped by quickly today and it looks like you have some great reading here!
Hi Vered. That’s a tough one isn’t it? I guess it starts with valuing yourself and knowing that you are always learning and there are no “real” mistakes.
July 28, 2008 at 2:19 am
Evelyn Lim
Hello Davina,
Firstly, thanks for visiting my site.
I like how you laid out your 8 core value statements. They are so beautifully expressed and absolutely self nurturing! I’ve subscribed to your blog feeds 🙂
Evelyn
July 28, 2008 at 2:03 pm
Lemonologie
Thanks for your visit!
This is a wonderful exercise. I’m going to put aside some time today to follow suit!
July 28, 2008 at 6:44 pm
moritherapy
interesting! i’ve done a lot of value exercises but not one like this yet.
great to meet you here, fellow vancouverite! perhaps you’d like to join us for the vancouver bloggers meetup one of these days? there’s one tomorrow, that’s maybe a bit short notice … (most of the blogathoners will be there, though!)
July 28, 2008 at 8:59 pm
davinahaisell
Hi Evelyn. Glad to see you here. Thanks for your warm comments and for subscribing to my blog feeds.
Hi Lemonologie. Good to see you too! Hope you enjoy the exercise! I’d love to see some of your value statements if you care to share.
Hi Moritherapy. Thanks for the invite to the bloggers meetup. I will have a look into this and you just might see me there. It sounds like fun.
July 30, 2008 at 10:22 pm
Chase March
This must’ve taken quite some time to come up with. I like it! It’s inspiring and maybe worth the effort. Thanks for sharing.
July 31, 2008 at 12:17 am
davinahaisell
Hi Chase. You are welcome! I didn’t actually develop this exercise. I learned it at a self-development course I took. But I thought it very worthwhile to share. Glad you enjoyed.
August 1, 2008 at 4:33 pm
Lance
I like this idea Davina!
I will try it out myself this weekend. It just really makes sense as a way to really know what we value.
I haven’t read your “answers” yet, as I don’t want to skew my own thinking, so I’ll be back to look at this again later.
August 1, 2008 at 7:20 pm
davinahaisell
Hi Lance. Hope you enjoy the exercise! Let me know how it goes for you.
August 2, 2008 at 8:16 pm
Karl Staib - Your Work Happiness Matters
Little mission statements for life. What a great idea. My emotional mission statement would be:
Use my past reactions to improve my present choices.
Thanks for the great idea.
August 3, 2008 at 1:06 am
davinahaisell
Hi Karl. Wow, I love your mission statement!
March 11, 2009 at 12:55 am
Juggling life’s balls
[…] I just need four. And they happen to coincide with the personal core values that I established using a technique posted by Davina, at Loving Pulse, which […]
September 10, 2009 at 1:33 pm
sandrar
Hi! I was surfing and found your blog post… nice! I love your blog. 🙂 Cheers! Sandra. R.