Have you ever felt disconnected from your life, like you’re moving through the motions but not fully present or fulfilled? This often happens when we’re living out of alignment with our core values—those deeply held beliefs that guide our actions, give our life meaning, and reflect who we truly are. When we don’t make decisions based on our values, we can feel stuck, overwhelmed, or even lost.
To help you realign with your values, here’s an exercise from Brené Brown’s Living into Our Values worksheet, which can be a powerful tool for gaining clarity and direction. This exercise will guide you in identifying your values, understanding how they show up in your life, and helping you craft a life that reflects your true self.
Discover Your Core Values
Brené Brown encourages us to start with self-awareness by identifying two core values that are central to who we are. These aren’t just nice-to-haves—they’re fundamental to how we want to live. If we stray too far from them, we lose our way.
Here’s how you can begin:
- Pick Two Core Values: Review a list of values (you can find these in Brené’s worksheet or create your own). Select two that resonate deeply with you. Think about times in your life when you felt most alive or proud. What values were you honoring in those moments? For example, if your top values are authenticity and courage, you may find that situations, where you can be yourself and take bold actions, are when you feel most aligned with your true self.
- Reflect on How These Values Show Up: Now, reflect on how these values are (or aren’t) showing up in your current life. Are your daily decisions honoring these values? Are your relationships, work, and habits in alignment with them? This exercise will give you insight into where you may need to shift or make adjustments. If authenticity is a value, but you feel like you’re constantly wearing a mask at work, there’s a disconnect. Or if courage is a value, but you’ve been avoiding difficult conversations, this could be an area for growth.
Applying Your Values to Life Decisions
Once you’ve identified your core values, the next step is to apply them to your decision-making. This is where life alignment comes into play. When you make choices that align with your values, you’re living authentically and creating a life that reflects your true self.
Here are a few strategies from Brené’s Living into Our Values exercise that can help you put your values into action:
1. Set Clear Boundaries
Living into your values requires setting boundaries that protect those values. If one of your core values is integrity, you might need to set boundaries around situations where you feel pressured to compromise your honesty. When you honor your values through boundaries, you reinforce the importance of living authentically.
2. Engage in Values-Based Decision Making
When faced with a decision ask yourself, Does this align with my values? Brené’s worksheet encourages you to stay grounded in your core values by using them as a filter for decision-making. If a decision doesn’t support your values, it’s an opportunity to say no or explore a different option that feels more aligned.
For example, if your value is connection but a job offer would take you away from your family and social support system, it might be worth reconsidering.
3. Create a Values Action Plan
Brené suggests creating an action plan that outlines how you will live into your values. This is a concrete way to bring values alignment into your everyday life. Your plan might include small daily actions or bigger life changes, depending on where you’re at.
For example, if one of your values is growth, you might commit to ongoing learning or take on new challenges that stretch you. Or if kindness is a value, your plan could include ways to show compassion to yourself and others daily.
Living Aligned
Living a values-driven life is a journey. It’s about progress, not perfection. As you navigate this process, be kind to yourself. It’s normal to find areas where your actions don’t fully reflect your values. What matters most is that you keep coming back to what’s important and continue taking steps toward alignment.
The beauty of using the Living into Our Values worksheet is that it gives you a framework for living more intentionally. As you grow and evolve, your values will become your compass, guiding you through life’s decisions with greater clarity and purpose.
Remember, you don’t have to do this alone. As a coach, I’m here to support you in this process of self-discovery and alignment. If you’d like guidance on crafting a life that honors your core values, reach out. Together, we can work through these exercises and help you build a life that truly reflects who you are.
