Clarify Your Core Value Using the Card Sort Technique

Too many people die regretting not having done more with their lives because they put off pursuing fulfillment. For me, the first step toward a fulfilling life and business is to clarify your Core Value, then create goals that get you one step closer to a life aligned with it.

Your Core Value is the one underlying value that unites everything you stand for, it’s the running theme across the times in your life you felt alive, it’s what matters most to you, and it’s the most fundamental piece of what a life well lived must include.

So before you create goals, clarify your Core Value, then create goals rooted in it.

This way, every goal naturally gets you one step closer to your ideal life, where you spend your time and energy doing meaningful, purpose-driven work that fulfills you.

If you’re grasping at straws to pinpoint your Core Value, try this exercise:

STEP 1: PICK YOUR TOP 10

STEP 2: PICK YOUR TOP 5

STEP 3: PICK YOUR TOP 3

STEP 4: DIG DEEP

STEP 5: YOUR CORE VALUE

So when you set your next goals, ask yourself how each one is aligned with your Core Value and will get you one step closer to your ideal life where you do meaningful, purpose-driven work that fulfills you.

“But Corey, other values are important to me, too. Shouldn’t I list more?”

No.

At least, not right now.

You’ve probably seen companies list their eight principles or your favorite celebrity talk about having values in different categories like “professional,” “personal,” “spiritual,” etc.

Two things:

This overcomplicates it for most people. Learn this system with your Core Value first. After you’ve got a good handle on it and want to go back and build branches with other values, cool. Feel free. But keep it simple on your first pass through this framework to guarantee success.
Values are about your priorities. If you have eight priorities, you have zero priorities. If you have eight guiding principles, dig into them to find the underlying theme they all have in common—that’s your Core Value.

Next Steps

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