Speaker 1: Have you ever been in a situation where you needed to make a really important work or life decision but you just didn't know what to do? I'm Adriana Girdler. I'm a productivity specialist, president of Cornerstone Dynamics and myvisualvision.com and in this video you will learn how to find your top three core values that will allow you to make decisions and move forward. Okay, so what are core values? Well, they are a description of your character, how you behave and what you are like. They hold strong no matter what, especially in times of stress and temptation. So why are core values so important? Well, the core values are really a descriptor of who you are. I like to call it, it's your line in the sand that lets you know what you're willing to accept and not accept. But not only that, core values give you the guidance that you need, kind of like an internal GPS as to what you're going to do and not do. Because your core values, as was said earlier on, is a description of you, your behavior, what you're willing to accept. And it's really cool because you can start very quickly making some really important decisions knowing what your core values are. So what are the three steps in order to find out what your three core values are? Well, let's get to it. Step number one is to take a look at a core value list. Sometimes they're also called personal beliefs and in fact if you go down below you can go to my website myvisualvision.com and actually take a look at a very extensive list of core values and pick up the ones that really resonate with you. I want you to be careful, don't go overload on this because these are core values that you live 24-7 and you make decisions by them every day. So you want to stick to about three, five, absolutely max because you have to manage this, alright? And again you're gonna live it 24-7. So take a look, find out what your three to five core values are and then bring them forth. Step number two, now that you've picked three to five core values I'd like for you to define them based on what you feel that means to you because again you're gonna live by this 24-7. Remember it's your line in the sand. You're gonna make yes or no decisions based on those core values. So if you picked a core value let's say like courage, well what does courage mean to you? That's the critical part. So really get in depth with what that decision is because again it's gonna allow you to make the right decision. So define all the core values that you've picked. Last but not least, step number three and that is we're gonna put your core values through the litmus test. This is the most important part. You cannot miss this whatsoever because this is gonna let you know whether or not the core values you picked truly are core values. What? Yeah, I know. Sometimes that happens. Sometimes we pick things but then when we put them through a litmus test we realize there's no way I can support that. Nothing wrong with it. So what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna read for you some of the litmus test questions that you're actually gonna think about. Alright, so with the core values that you picked I want you to ask these top questions. Would you honestly sacrifice any value on your list for money? So let's say someone gave you a million bucks. Would you actually give up that core value in order to do whatever that person asked you to do because you just now crossed that line in the sand? Think about it. You want to ask this question for every core value you picked. Have you lost any core value in times of stress? So think about these core values that you picked. In the past have you ever lost it quite easily with that core value? Think about it. Another question is do you envision, let's say in 25 years, that this core value still holds true? Core values are your essence. It's your inner being. So these aren't something that are going to change in five years, two years, or even ten years. It is who you are. So you want to make sure that you can still envision yourself holding this core value true to your heart in the next 25, 30, 50 years, actually to the end of your life really. Here's another really cool question to ask from a litmus test perspective. Would you stop holding these values if at some point they became a competitive disadvantage? That's kind of loaded because you're wondering, wow what would I do if this occurred? But again that's the whole purpose. Your core value is your essence. Now if you answered yes to any of these questions for a core value then guess what? That is not a core value. Go back to the list and pick out a new one. If you answered no to all of the questions then guess what? Yay. You just found a core value and now you want to hold on to that. That is truly who you are in your essence. I can't tell you enough how critical core values are in making life decisions, business decisions, personal decisions. It is absolutely amazing and it is a beautiful tool to have to really move you forward into what it is that you want to do. But more importantly staying true to who you are and not losing yourself in the process because perhaps your ultimate goal doesn't just take one path, it takes many paths. So why not take the path that is ultimately going to get your goal but also connect you to your core value. So every day when you wake up you feel good about the decisions you made and you're not wondering and questioning should I've done that differently? When you're in line with core values it is powerful because in the famous words of Roy E Disney, it is not hard to make a decision once you know what your values are. If you'd like to have more information on core values and you want to understand how that links to visions and things of that nature you can check out my website the link is below. You can also check out this workbook that I have on visual visioning but also talks in depth about core values too. If you like this video please give it a thumbs up, please subscribe to the button below and as well please share it with your family and friends. Core values are a wonderful way and a great tool to move you forward down the path of what it is that you want in both your personal and professional life. Thank you very much and I'll see you at the next video. Bye.