18. Why you should know your core values
Quilt Notebook resources for paid subscribers
Hi there, I’m Val Spiers and I write and create my way through my life with joy and purpose.
In this week’s newsletter:
You will find out how to work with your core values to create a life that is happy and fulfilling. Also Quilt Notebook resources for paid subscribers.
My goal to keep a nature journal aligns with my core values of harmony, respect and responsibility.
James Clear has found that he makes better decisions when he makes them in alignment with his core values.
https://jamesclear.com/values-choices
Don’t let your pain drive you
Problems are called pain points for a reason. They cause us mental and physical pain such as worry and tight shoulders. This pain will often drive our choices and our actions. We make short term decisions to remove the pain and find ourselves digging a hole of unhappiness and guilt.
To overcome this, it is worthwhile to bring your core values into the decision process. Ask yourself if your decision will be in alignment with your values before you go any further. If not, then you need to find other choices. By doing this you can build a life you are proud of and that gives you joy.
If you are interested in determining what your core values are you can look at this list. https://jamesclear.com/core-values
It is much easier to work them out if you have a list to work with in the beginning. The important thing to remember is that the first ones you think fit with you may not be the best ones or the only ones. I spent a few years working on my core values and learning more about what core values means. The advice was always to pick only 3 to 5. This makes sense if you want a catchy mission for your business. “Our mission is to provide service with integrity” type of thing. I don’t think it is possible to live a life based on a few core values. I believe optimism is a great value to approach life with but what about creativity? What about integrity? they are really valuable to have on board as well. Then there is learning and growth. I couldn’t feel whole if I didn’t include those in my core values.
After many years of including hard-working as one of my core values I have just changed it to purpose. This aligns much more closely with how I am leading my life now. I feel that the term ‘purpose’ stands for ‘action with meaning’ whereas hard-working can be true even if the work is meaningless.
Getting started
When I first got serious about my core values around 2017 I wrote them down in a journal that I planned to keep and refer to all my life. The content was based on a workbook I found online that laid out how to make life goals and guiding values. Basically it helped me define my values as Being Values such as, I want to be creative and Having Values such as, I have creativity as a core value. It is a matter of using adjectives for my various personality traits and nouns for my core values.
In order to take my life in the direction that brings me joy I have collected 10 core values. When I look back as well as forward I see that these core values align with my deepest beliefs and I can see them serving me well for the foreseeable future.
My goal to draw more aligns with creativity, learning and purpose.
My core values are:
Creativity
Learning
Harmony
Respect
Generosity
Optimism
Purpose
Growth
Responsibility
Integrity
Keep revising
This year (2024) I added some things that I value. I learnt that core values are something that cannot be taken away from you. Even if I am in prison and being treated badly or if I am very ill and have to keep to my bed I can still cling to my optimism or my generosity or my creativity.
Other things I value because I have them or want them. These values can be taken away from us.
Freedom
Choice
Independence
Security
Mastery
Prosperity
I have also added some more personality traits that I think are important to cultivate.
These are:
be grateful
be self-compassinate
be self-accepting
be self-caring
I have written down lots of things that I am grateful for over the last 10 years or so and I have kept gratitude journals but I have never analysed ‘being grateful’ as a personality trait that I need to work on with intention. Being grateful was something I did, not something I was. It has taken me 10 years to work this out.
Growth and learning are two of my core values so I can’t be satisfied with making a list of values or traits without working on growing and learning from my original core values and valued personality traits. So over the years I have evaluated my core values and personality traits and made subtle changes. Just the fact that I have grown over the last 10 years means that I need to keep evaluating the things that are important to me.
Aligning my goals
This year I have set a goal to master the skills required to be an accomplished patchworker and quilter. This goal aligns with my core values of creativity, learning and purpose. Since mastery is something I value I am reading and learning more about patchwork and quilting and I am starting a Quilt Notebook to record my efforts and progress. When I started planning for this year I wanted to work on a new quilt and finish at least one of my nearly finished quilts. The Quilt Notebook will help me achieve my goal as well as document the progress.
I am well under way with my new Down Wander Lane quilt.
What can you do now?
Start today with a list of core values and pick out the ones that speak to you.
Use James clear’s list so you can start now. It doesn’t matter if you have a long list at first. Spend a few days thinking about what is important to you. How have you acted in the past. What is lacking in those people you don’t like. Tick those values that make you you. I had 10 but the number is not important. Add to it and change it like I have. Above all check with your list of core values when you make goals and decisions.
Additions to the Resources Library for paid subscribers
Links to these resources appear below the paywall.
🔒Digital Quilt Notebook
🔒Quilt Notebook section dividers to print out and add to your own print Quilt Notebook
I have found that working in a digital notebook gives me the space to add as many pages as I like and reorder some pages if needed. To make my Quilt Notebook as useful as possible I have created a digital notebook with tabs and indexes that allow me to record everything I need about my patchwork and quilting journey.
If you want to get started with a paper notebook these are the headings for your sections. Make sure you leave several pages for each section.
Quilts I have finished
UFO’s
WIP’s
Name
Reason for making
Fabric
Estimated time
Estimated cost
Notes
Skills
Websites
Notes
Cheers,
Val
