How to Discover Your Core Values
My Long Road to Purpose, Fulfillment, and Impact
When I was a kid, my dream was to be an orthopedic surgeon. I wanted to help people, ease their pain, and get athletes back on their game. I wanted to do something meaningful. But suddenly, that dream disappeared, and I felt adrift.
At 20, I realized that being the fourth Dr. Reinke in my family wasn't for me. It didn't resonate with who I was for many reasons.
This revelation sparked my career journey—a quest for purpose. I aimed to blend my big ambitions with my core values, though I didn't know it at the time.
My initial drive for tangible success led me into the business world with aspirations of becoming a Fortune 500 CEO. But that dream was short-lived. The lives of those in such positions felt hollow to me.
I followed my passions and interests. I wanted to do something my mom could see, which led me to a marketing role at Neutrogena. My love for surfing, travel, and foreign languages drove me to start a surf travel company in southern Brazil—Nexus Surf. The rise of the internet inspired me to create FirstStoke.com, a social network for action sports fans. My interest in passive income took me into eCommerce.
In the end, I found that my core values were what truly mattered: personal growth, freedom of time and space, family, and wellbeing—physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual.
Starting a leadership development company focused on executive coaching and training has allowed me to live out these values while still dreaming big—aiming to build a globally recognized brand.
This journey began 20 years ago and has been filled with highs and lows and sleepless nights. It’s ongoing, but understanding my core values and aligning them with my goals has brought profound fulfillment, motivation, and impact.
But, don’t wait 20 years to uncover your core values and align them with your big goals. Below is the process I use to guide leaders and their teams to uncover their core values and create alignment with their goals.
The Process: Discover Your Values
Follow the 8 steps below to discover your core values and start to put them into practice.
Step 1: Reflect on Your Life and Career
The first step to uncovering your values is to take a deep look inside of yourself. To identify the values that are core to who you are. This requires honest introspection and openness to what both guides you and inspires you. Your values will become your Leadership Operating System that will guide your actions, behaviors, decisions and even how you spend your time. Consider the defining moments of your life and what you want your legacy to be.
Step 2: Extract Themes that Inspire You
As you reflect on your life and career, extract the words or phrases that come up. Those themes are the starting point for your core values. As you do, be sure to tune out the external voices and opinions and focus on what matters most to you. Each theme should inspire you, but also create a deep sense of fulfillment.
Step 3: Assess Values for Authenticity
One misstep people make in this exercise is they pick values that look good on paper, but don’t align with their actions, behaviors, decisions, and how they spend their time. As you look at the preliminary themes, reflect back on the last few weeks and see how your values align with the actions you took, decisions you made, behaviors you exhibited, and how you spent your time. If they align, great! If not, ask yourself why. Are those values not authentic to you or perhaps you need to make some shifts to better align with your values.
Step 4: Ask for Input from People Who Care
Next, ask for input from people in your life who know you best. Your significant other, mentors, and current/former colleagues. I realize this conflicts with what I stated earlier—tune out external voices. The point is not to let others dictate what matters most to you. In this case, lean on others as a “Fit Filter”—ask how the values you selected align with your recent actions and behaviors. Be sure to ask for real examples, not just generalities. Remember, their perspective is just data that you can accept or discard. That’s up to you.
Step 5: Pick 3-5 Values and Commit to Action
This is the critical step. Without action, nothing will change. Make a commitment to live out 3-5 values at work, in your personal life, and in your community. Ask yourself, “How can I live out my value of personal growth at work?” or “How can I practice empathy in my community?”
Step 6: Put Your Values Into to Practice
Once you’ve committed to live out your values, it’s time to get specific. Define actions you’ll take that demonstrate these values—e.g. Integrate learning goals into your Personal Development Plan to practice “personal growth.” Identify behaviors you will practice with your colleagues—e.g. Put yourself in your colleagues shoes to consider how a new org change might impact them to apply your value of “empathy.”
Step 7: Ask for Support
Being an authentic leader who embodies their values at work and at home is hard. Build a tribe of cheerleaders who support you and also those folks to hold you accountable to your commitments. Ask them to let you know when you make a decision or exhibit a behavior that doesn’t align with one or more of your values. But, also request that they acknowledge you when you do. Pair accountability with acknowledgement to keep you on track and inspire you to practice your values.
Step 8: Revisit and Revise Your Values
Values is not a “set it and forget it” activity. They are your operating system that guide your life. Your iPhone needs regular updates as does your PC. Your values are the same way. Revisit your values on a timeline that works for you—quarterly or once a year when you set your goals. Consider what’s changed. Are there new values that are emerging or maybe some that no longer fit. Have your recent actions, decisions, and behaviors reflected the values you identified? Ask yourself why or why not and adapt accordingly.
Ready to Take Action? If So, There are 3 Ways I Can Help You:
1. Download the Discover Your Values Workbook
I created an interactive workbook to help you uncover your most important values. Better yet, ask a colleague or friend to join you and start the journey to align your values with your big goals.
Get it Now: Download Workbook
3. Sign-Up for the Savage Saturdays Newsletter
Join 2,000+ readers who are committed to finding greater meaning in their jobs, standing out at work, and making a difference in the lives of their team members.
Join 2,000+ Readers: Sign-Up Now
3. Book a Call to Discuss Doing a Workshop with Your Team
My team and I run workshops with leadership teams to help them identify their individual values as well as those for the team overall. From there, we align their values with team and company goals to create a Team Greatness Statement. Doing so creates a North Star that inspires the team and ensures their actions and decisions are aligned with their core values. Schedule a call to learn more.