At the core of it all…

Every successful business knows that employees and projects need to align with the company’s core values. Core values are put in place to define what is at the essence of the business we do. In our culture, core values are a term used in the business world, almost exclusively. Why is that? Why is core value language not used at the centre of all defined human groupings: the self, the family, the community? This is a blog dedicated to providing inspiration and tools for embedding core values deep into every aspect of our lives.

What Are Core Values?

Core values are the guideposts that define our character. They are both descriptive of who we are and aspirational of who we hope to be. Often, core values are seen as gentle platitudes and empty words written in an employee handbook and completely ignored. But they are much more powerful than that. Tethering ourselves to values that inspire us and encapsulate who we are provides us with a North Star to align with and deep purpose for personal growth and development. This is not fluffy stuff. This is deeply intentional living. This is offering the world a consistent personal brand. This is laser focus and ferocious determination. Core Value living is for people committed to bringing the best of who they are to the world.

How Do We Begin?

The tools in this blog are so simple and so powerful. Truly a bit of reflection, discipline and creativity are all it take to live a core value based life. Start wherever you are. Here’s where I started: When my two daughters were very young, I felt the significant weight of raising humans who I couldn’t help but experience as extraordinary. I was troubled by questions such as “how do I help these beautiful humans flourish?” or more accurately, “how do I not mess these beautiful humans up?”. We introduced the idea of having family core values as a way of building our family’s culture and giving them something deeper to cling to, no matter what waves may crash on us. And waves DID crash on us. Because life is full of crashing waves that toss us about. But our core values have been North Stars we continually point ourselves back to. They are who we are, what we offer each other, what we offer the world, and what we open-handedly accept back from the world. I have lived this way now for a decade, with a clear and strong alignment to my core values of Kindness, Gratitude and Adventure and I have seen this practice provide me with a powerful engagement in my life and intentionality that makes me proud of who I am. My daughters, who are now entering their teenage years are deeply committed to these core values as well as exploring the values that align with them on a personal level.

It is my deep belief that every person, in every age and stage of life, can receive benefit personally, relationally and professionally from a commitment to core value living.

To becoming Core Valued.