As Life Changes, So Do Our Core Values

Core values are the starting point to living an intentional life. If you haven’t defined your core values, you can read about that here. Core values are the principles and beliefs that guide your behavior and decision-making. Think of them as your identity building blocks. They help you align your actions with what truly matters to you.

Why Core Values Change

Life Experience

Life happens to all of us. If we are lucky, we get older and hopefully, concurrently, we grow wiser. Some of us have children, while some of us hear the news that we never will be able to bear children. Unfathomable losses happen early in life for some, while others don’t experience loss until later in life. These life experiences shift who we are as humans all the while shifting our core values.

Personal Growth

Personal growth is an absolutely crucial piece in the transformation of our core values. We evolve and blossom as we age, and thank goodness for that! Honestly, I can’t even imagine staying the same person I once was and am thankful for being able to have put the time into working on my personal growth.

Social Influences

Social influences including social media can shift our mindsets and alter our core values and beliefs. On an important note, who we follow and what we consume in regard to social media has a significant impact on our mental health. Be cautious about what you read and focus your energy or attention toward while scrolling on social media. If it doesn’t lift you up, maybe let it go.

Cultural Influences

Many of us absorb cultural influences around us or have been taught these cultural factors such as common beliefs, values, and societal norms. These factors can influence individuals behavior or their interpretations of others behavior. Cultural influences can also impact how individuals interact with others or see the world around them.

Education

Your education level can impact what you value as well. For example, if you’ve completed continued education and taken classes such as ethics it can shift your own perceptions of concepts. Continued education in any form can change beliefs on many core values, such as respect, responsibility, integrity, social justice, and many more. The more we learn, the more we change.

Faith

Similarly, if there has been a shift in your faith, it could lead to a change in core values as well.

My Core Values in the Past

My core values in the past included beauty, fashion, wealth, achievement, and success because these were highly important to me at the time. I worked tirelessly toward professional development, achievement, success, and wealth and I had the drive to work endlessly to build up my bank account. I’m not saying these aren’t worthy core values or that these aren’t the “ideal” core values. Under those circumstances, they were the core values that served me at that time. However, they don’t serve me currently in this new chapter of my life and that’s okay.

My Core Values Now

Since I’ve experienced personal growth and additional life experiences, my core values have changed and are now connection, honesty, growth, and happiness. I have done a lot of self-reflection and personal growth and these feel true to my character now. Success, achievement, wealth, and beauty are all great things to work toward if they ignite you during this chapter of your life. I wouldn’t be where I am today without my past self being exactly who I needed to be at that time.

Self-Reflection on Core Values

Doing self-reflection coupled with thinking about your core values and what they mean to you can help you remain intentional with your time and your energy. Shifting our core values for our current chapter in life is essential to remaining your authentic self.

Are your core values having a negative impact on your life?

Are your core values contributing to negative emotions?

Do your core values clash?

Simple Ways to Self-Reflect

If you’ve never taken the time to self-reflect, you could be thinking “how do I start?” and feel lost in the beginning of this journey. For this reason feelings of uneasiness or feeling silly can arise as well. Nonetheless, the more you practice these things, the more natural they’ll feel and you’ll start noticing the benefits of them.

Meditation 🧘🏻‍♀️

I would recommend finding a guided meditation to listen to if you are new to meditation. A guided meditation basically provides a meditation coach who will talk over soft, gentle sounds or music and guide you on what to do. They guide you through the meditation, where to focus your attention, and how to bring yourself back to your present self. Meditation is not sitting there and doing nothing. On the contrary, it is an active practice of being present in the moment, which is difficult to do in today’s fast-paced world. I highly recommend meditation and I personally love this practice. You can find free, guided meditations on several apps or YouTube. (I use the FitOn app for free workouts and meditations.)

Gratitude 🫶🏽

Practicing daily gratitude can be a great way to self-reflect. What are you grateful for today? Take a few minutes and write down a few words, a few sentences, or get more in depth if that’s what suits you.

Journal 📓

You can journal about your day or find prompts online to journal about. This was difficult for me before I developed the habit of self-reflection. This is not where I started because it didn’t work for me. I would find a prompt online and then think “well, I don’t KNOW!” and basically give up on trying to reflect. It’s important to find a way that works for you personally. What works for me may not work for you.

Ask Yourself Questions 🤔

These questions can be the same questions that you write about in your journal or just questions you ask yourself and take time to think about. If thinking about them isn’t enough to keep you focused on them, try talking out loud to yourself. Maybe this sounds ridiculous to you, but if you’re at home or in your car alone, try it. What do you have to lose? Your sanity? You won’t. It might even ground you more in the present moment by blocking out the distractions that are all around us.

Ask for Feedback 🫂

Asking for feedback from family and friends can be beneficial.

Are there any characteristics about me that seem off-putting or offensive to you?
What do you find most enjoyable about being around me?
What value do I add to your life?
Are there things that you’ve noticed about me that you think I should work on?

This isn’t something you should feel ashamed about or get defensive about when they answer you either. This is honest and raw feedback that can help guide you towards being the best version of yourself. Without honest feedback from the people around you, you may be building up negative values or values that don’t serve you any longer.

Doesn’t it always seem to be easier to see each other’s values more clearly from an outside perspective?

Conclusion

Our core values change, shift, and evolve depending on where we are personally in life. Taking time to define your core values, work intentionally to live by them, and continue to do self-reflection will help guide you toward an intentional life.

The importance of self-reflection is often overlooked and underrated. I often hear “I don’t have time,” but I challenge that. Do you have the time to be living a life that doesn’t serve you or provide you fulfillment or would you rather spend your time practicing self-reflection and working to better yourself daily?

How have your core values changed over the last few years? I’m extremely interested in connecting about this; comment below! 😊