Discovering Your Core Values: The Key to Your Authentic Self
Erick Pettersen
Trauma/Mindset Coach - I empower high achievers to release low-vibration emotions, so they can embrace their authenticity and align with their true purpose.
Understanding Core Values
Recently, after banking with USAA for 23 years, I came to an unfortunate end in my financial relationship with them. Earlier this year, I was rear-ended while waiting at a stop light. The driver got out of his car, was very apologetic, admitted full responsibility, and the next day I called USAA to make my claim.
Fortunately, he had already called into his insurance company (Geico) and made a claim to them. A few days later, I brought my car to an auto body shop, and they set me up with a nice rental courtesy of Geico. Then, the next week, a rep from Geico called me and told me they decided to total out my car. They offered me a settlement claim, which sounded like a reasonable amount, so I accepted their offer.
All in all, the process seemed to go pretty smoothly. That is until a month later when I noticed my auto loan had not been closed. I called USAA to let them know of their mistake. I explained the situation to the rep and asked him to close out my auto loan. He told me they had not received a check from Geico and that I was financially responsible until they received that check.
But . . . wait . . . Geico took over financial responsibility. I even sat on a conference call with a USAA rep and a Geico rep about Geico sending USAA a check to cover the balance due on the loan and me the surplus. But more than a month had gone by, USAA had not yet received a check, and they didn’t care that Geico accepted financial responsibility.
So, Geico reissued a check to USAA for the agreed-upon amount. But because of the USAA's and Geico’s negligence, rather than my loan being zeroed out, I was left with a balance of $59.22. After explaining to several deaf ears I should not be held financially responsible because it was due to USAA’s and Geico’s negligence, I paid it off.
No matter how many times I told them I had been a member for 23 years. No matter how many times I asked them to cancel that last $59.22. No matter how many times I tried to reason with them that they were willing to lose a 23-year member over less than $60, they wouldn’t budge. They had the power to cancel a debt I did not owe. But they also had the power to bully me. So, they decided to use their power to bully me instead of looking out for my financial well-being me and admitting to their mistake.
After 23 years of banking with USAA, I am leaving them. But I'm not leaving them because of the $59.22. I'm leaving them because I no longer trust USAA to look out for my financial interests. They showed me they only care about increasing their profit margins. You see, core values are important to me. I live by core values, and they guide my decisions.
And I choose to do business with people and businesses who live and operate by core values,
Here are USAA’s core values:
- Service: USAA is dedicated to the financial well-being of its members and their families.
- Loyalty: USAA seeks to be the provider of choice for the military community.
- Honesty: USAA promotes honesty and integrity in its advertising and sales practices.
- Integrity: USAA expects all employees to embody these core values.
Rather than showing loyalty and honesty by admitting to the mistake of the USAA claims rep who did not take proactive steps to make sure my claim was handled in a timely manner, they bullied me. Why? Because they knew I was the easiest target.
And, of course, they failed to maintain their fourth core value of integrity because by not holding up several employees at USAA who did not hold up their core values of Loyalty and Honesty, they did not hold up their core value of Integrity.
The Benefits of Identifying Your Core Values
So, what are the benefits of living by and conducting your business by core values?
Here are 11 benefits to living by core values:
Steps to Discovering Your Core Values
So, how do you determine your core values?
Well, one way is to think about those times when you felt most proud of yourself and what values you honored the most during those times. The values you honor most in your life are your core values, and keeping those values will help you live your life with integrity.
Another way to know your core values is to consider what values you honor in other people. If you consider a person who treats you and other people with respect a person of honor, then respect is one of your core values.
Once you identify your core values, surround yourself with people who embody those core values. Not only will those people encourage you to live by your core values, but the people they surround themselves with will also encourage you to live in the same way.
Living in Alignment with Your Core Values
After you determine your core values, it’s time to set goals for yourself (and your business if you are an entrepreneur) that align with your core values. It is important to incorporate your values into your daily routines and habits, so they become ingrained into your way of being.
Along with incorporating them into your daily life, determine how you can use them to navigate your challenges and overcome your obstacles. Living in integrity with your core values will make those times less challenging and more navigable.
Every once in a while, it is important to reassess your core values to determine if they are still relevant to your life. For instance, I recently changed my core value of ‘Honor’ to ‘Authenticity,’ not because I don’t value honoring others, but because I have come to value living in authenticity with myself more.
The Impact of Core Values on Authentic Living
Though she grew up with much adversity, Oprah Winfrey determined at an early age she would live by a set of core values. Those core values helped to guide and continue to guide her in making her business and personal decisions.
Oprah Winfrey’s Core Values:
- Integrity
- Perseverance
- Empathy
- Continuous learning
- Service to others
Regardless of what you think of Oprah Winfrey’s views, I am sure you agree she embodies these core values. Living by core values has allowed her to jet past her early days of anchoring the news in Baltimore and Chicago to hosting the Oprah Winfrey Show to building an empire worth $3,000,000,000.
Not only has Oprah Winfrey built a media empire worth billions, she has also donated $400,000,000 in grants through the Oprah Winfrey Charitable Foundation. She has been a leader in women’s empowerment, established 60 schools in 13 countries, built numerous shelters and youth centers, and much more.
Without a doubt, she has made an impact on thousands of lives that will leave a legacy that will outlive her. And it’s all because she made the decision that even though she was born into poverty, molested as a child, impregnated at the age of 14, faced childhood abuse, and more, she would live by core values.
A Life of Core Values will lead to a Life Well Lived
Though you may never build a multi-billion dollar empire that allows you to donate hundreds of millions of dollars to charity, living by core values will lead you to live a life well lived. You will live a life that will impact others, and you will leave a legacy beyond your lifetime.
Not only will you live a life that will impact others, you will live a life that will impact yourself and lead to your personal well-being. Your core values will allow you to live a life of authenticity that is in alignment with your true self.
About me:
One summer morning, at the age of 7, my mother rushed me to the nearby emergency room thinking I suffered from a heatstroke. After running various test, during which I fell into a coma, the San Diego Children's Hospital (Now Rady's Children's Hospital) sent an ambulance with a medical team to the Scripps Clinic in Encinitas.
At the San Diego Children's Hospital, my Neuro-surgeon diagnosed me with a brain aneurysm and told my mother he needed to perform emergency brain surgery. After laying in a coma for a month and beating the 10% odds of surviving my brain surgery, I opened my eyes for the first time.
When I returned to school, a new battle for my life began. The childhood bullying became so immense that I became suicidal at just 10 yrs of age. I did my best to cope with the bullying by trying to fit in with the cool kids, which led to me becoming ashamed of my past head trauma.
Though, it wasn't until many years later, after the bullying had stopped, that I realized that I had formed a shame identity. That's when I did the deep work to let go of the shame that had caused so much emotional trauma in me throughout my adult life.
Now, I want to help other people, especially those who have overcome any type of trauma, to let go of their shame, so they can become their authentic selves and live their best lives.
For more about me and Think Outside The Vein - a movement dedicated to helping trauma survivors release low-energy emotions, so they can live their best lives, please join the TOTV Facebook group.
Books to help you discover your core values: