What are your core values?

Welcome to the LIFT Your Impact newsletter, where you gain insights on leadership, communication, and storytelling. And great news! You can now pre-order my new book, Lift Your Impact, here in the UK and here in the US! For bulk orders contact our team!

Or to book me for a speaking engagement click here (virtual or in person).?

In my last newsletter, I provided a sneak peek into my new book, which explores three main pillars for elevating your work, team, and life. The first of these:

Lift Your Mindset

Much like the classic aeroplane metaphor: You must put on your own oxygen mask before helping those around you.

To be clear, this does not mean only focusing on yourself, spending so much time with your own oxygen mask that you leave everyone around you to fend for themselves. But you cannot help others if you are running on empty. You must define what’s important to you through inner work before going out into the world. This will help you stay true to yourself and your values, preventing you from getting lost in both your successes and your challenges, ensuring that you bring the greatest version of yourself to all of your interactions with others.?

Prime your mind every day with positivity, pride, and purpose.?

Every day? Yes, every day! I know that we’re all very busy, but when you take a few intentional moments to define your core values, it will have a positive ripple effect throughout your entire life.?

Your values are the principles that are most meaningful to you. They help define who you are and how you make choices each day, whether you are aware of them or not. They will guide you when you are faced with a critical decision and there is no clear path ahead. If you want to lead your life with certain principles, doesn’t it make sense to define them for yourself?

Try this now:

• Consider what you deeply desire in life. This could be a relationship, a job, or a material object.
• Consider the core values that will shape your decisions around attaining your goals in the future, including the boundaries that you will not cross.?
• Write down these values! These could be honesty, compassion, being a good parent, and so much more.?
• For each value, write down why it is important to you. How has it shaped your life??

Defining your values is the first step. When you’re faced with a difficult decision, it doesn’t hurt to think “honesty” or “compassion” as you think about your choices. But it is possible to amplify their impact by using this tool:

Code words

My number one value in life is to be a good father. When I first did this exercise, I wrote a long paragraph about what this value meant in my life, and then I asked myself one question:

“What word or phrase describes all of this well?”

The answer for me was simple: polar bears.?

My children invented a game when they were younger. I would play the daddy polar bear, getting down on the floor on all fours. One child would climb on my back for a ride, and the other would hide underneath me. We would then patrol around the “wilderness” to find food and shelter, play, laugh, and enjoy quality time together.?

I felt very connected with them during these games and was able to teach them life skills, help them bond with each other, and give them love and guidance—all the things I think about when aiming to be a good father. When I focus on the term “polar bears,” this connects me powerfully to my first core value.?

Reflect on your top three values for a moment. Think about code words or phrases that immediately connect you with these values. What are your “polar bears”? Write them down.

Then, make sure these words are somewhere that you will see them often. They could be on a sticky note that you see on your mirror when you brush your teeth, a note you place on your bedside table, or even your phone’s background. Seeing these words will anchor you into the best version of yourself from the moment you wake up until you fall asleep.?

Your code words and the values they represent will give you strength and confidence so that you will feel centred, clear, composed, and ready for your next interaction to be more lifted.?

Thank you for joining me for another LIFT Your Impact newsletter.?

This, and many other tools, exercises, and stories can be found in my new book Lift Your Impact, which is available for preorder here in the UK and here in the US! Bulk purchases can be made here.?

You don’t want to miss the LIFT Retreat this May 18-21 in New Forest, UK! This is the only retreat currently scheduled for this year, so book your place while you can.

To book me for speaking engagements, please email [email protected] or check out my conference speaking page here.

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