A Core Values Exercise Based on Your Actual Work

Your core values show up more reliably in your recent experience than in a worksheet of abstract words. List three moments from the past few weeks that energized you, and three that drained you - the pattern between those two short lists reveals your real values far better than naming values off a list. Then check which energizing moments happen out of obligation, and which draining ones you keep only out of guilt.

Start with six recent moments

Everyone has heard the advice to get clear on your values. It sounds simple enough, until you try to connect a word like integrity or creativity to something as concrete as how you run your business or show up to your work day to day. Here's a different way in: instead of starting with a list of nouns, start with the last few weeks of your actual life. Pull out three moments when you felt genuinely energized, engaged, or quietly proud of something, and three moments when you felt drained, resentful, or like you were performing rather than contributing. Don't analyze them yet - just name them.

If the energizing moments keep involving other people and the draining ones keep involving isolation, connection is probably one of your core values, whether you'd have named it that way or not. If the energizing moments are about solving something creatively and the draining ones are about repeating the same task for the hundredth time, creativity deserves a closer look. None of this requires restructuring your business by next week. It just asks you to listen to the information your own experience keeps handing you.

Test the pattern against obligation

Here's where it gets more interesting. Once a pattern shows up, ask yourself honestly whether anything on your energizing list is actually there out of obligation, something you do because it's expected rather than wanted. And whether anything on your draining list is still there because stepping away would feel like letting someone down, or like failing. Many of us are carrying commitments we said yes to as a different version of ourselves, based on what we thought was required rather than what we actually wanted. Noticing this isn't about dropping everything. It's about finally seeing it clearly.

Turn the pattern into a decision

Your values are allowed to change. What mattered most five years ago may not be what matters most now, and that's not inconsistency, it's just growth doing what growth does. There's no single formula for staying aligned with them, because what stays aligned with you is specific to your own life - which is exactly why Redefining Success treats a values-aligned work life as an ongoing check-in rather than a fixed destination, done at your own pace. The real use of identifying your values isn't landing on a permanent answer. It's bringing a better question to the decisions in front of you. For a fuller framework, Redefining Success: A Journey to Authentic Fulfillment picks up right where this leaves off.

For the broader role of values in growth decisions, read how core values guide a business. If the result points to an inherited goal, examine whose definition of success you are using.

Frequently asked questions

What is the values exercise for identifying core values?

Name three recent moments that lifted you and three that wore you down, before you try to interpret either list - the contrast between them tends to surface what you actually value more accurately than picking words from a chart.

How do I know if I'm living according to my values?

Look at whether the moments that lift you happen by genuine choice, and whether the ones that wear you down persist mainly out of guilt. A consistent mismatch there is usually the clearest sign something's off.

Do core values change over time?

Yes - priorities shift as you do, and revisiting them periodically isn't a sign of indecision. It's closer to routine maintenance than a rare event.

What if my job requires things that drain me?

Seeing the mismatch clearly doesn't obligate you to overhaul everything overnight. It just gives you accurate information to work with, which is usually the harder part to get right.