Identify Your Core Values With Guided Journaling

Research shows that expressing your core values helps to strengthen your willpower and is a courageous act that affirms a positive sense of self. In this journaling exercise, we will focus on outlining our core values and in doing so strengthen our self-control and resiliency. This form of self-affirmation can be used against procrastination, addictive and compulsive behavior, discouragement at difficult tasks, and other minor problems.

Transcript

Hello and welcome to this guided journaling practice to enhance your self-worth. Expressing your core values help to strengthen your willpower and is a courageous act that affirms a positive sense of self. In this journaling exercise, We will focus on outlining our core values, Because research shows that it is the most effective method in counteracting one's automatic or habitual response and replacing it with a conscious, Willful response. In the 1980s, Dr. Roy Baumeister developed the idea of willpower as something that can be strengthened with exercise and depleted with disuse. More researchers like Brandon Schimmackel and Kathleen Woese released a paper in early 2009 summarizing the findings of a series of experiments in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. In these experiments, Subjects had their egos depleted and then attempted to counteract this depletion using self-affirmative strategies. The results showed a remarkable power in self-affirmation to empower the individual and to increase self-control. It even strengthened some subjects' pain tolerance. By affirming one's sense of self, One can strengthen one's self-control and resiliency. This form of self-affirmation can be used against procrastination, Addictive and compulsive behavior, Discouragement at difficult tasks, And other minor problems that result from a lack of self-control. It also has been shown to improve mood and long-term self-esteem. And it empowers the individual to change themselves and their ability to manage their life. Now, Before opening your journals to reflect on questions, Let's take a moment to breathe deeply. Get into a very comfortable position and make sure that you will not be disturbed. It's easy to relax even though you might not get the chance too often. So let's take three deep breaths together to oxygenate all of our body systems to start. Inhale to a count of three, Hold to a count of three, And then exhale to a count of three. Let's do this together now. Inhale to three, Hold to three, Exhale to three. One more time, Inhale to three, Hold to three, Exhale to three. Let's do this one more time. Inhale to three, Hold to three, Exhale to three. Good work. Now open your journals and reflect on these questions. You may pause the audio as you reflect or use the 60 seconds of silence given in this audio to complete your journaling. First prompt, Write down three of your major core values. Your core values could be anything such as compassion for others, Dedication to one's work, A good sense of humor, Love for family, Self-love and self-care, Passion for a hobby, Sense of fun and adventure, Caring for others, Making the world a better and just place to be, Finding joy in little things and more. Now write a few sentences about what defines your world view and what do you consider your own personal guidelines for living well in the world. Don't pick something just because it makes you sound like a saint. Remember the point of this exercise isn't to win an essay contest for the best human being. You are trying to affirm the very deepest and most meaningful parts of yourself. Now pause for a second and ask yourself how aligned is your daily life with your core values. If you are fully aligned, Congratulate yourself because positive feedback from oneself and from others is important. If not, Ask yourself what you can do in aligning yourself with your core values. As a supplement to this exercise, Take action and express your core values in the real world. So if you believe strongly in honesty, Endeavor to be honest and to promote honesty in others. This also acts as a self-affirmative act. Over time, You may find that this increases your sense of control and well-being. Continue to practice this expression in your everyday life to maintain the strength of your willpower. Next, Review the core values that you wrote earlier and write a short essay explaining one of your core values and why it is important to you and to others. You might also want to include an instance in which this value has made a difference in your life. You might want to begin a journal which you use to write about these core values. You could treat each value as a subject of a newspaper style editorial piece in which you can express your most deeply held values, Giving examples from real life. Or you can create self-affirmations that you practice daily to keep yourself aligned with your core values. This exercise is also very helpful in reducing the tendency to procrastinate. Putting things off is a perfect example of the kind of self-control failure that this exercise will help you to overcome. By affirming your strength through your core values, You affirm your ability to act, That is to say, Your ability not to procrastinate. Though growing one's self-control has been shown to help reduce addictive and compulsive behaviors as well, If you are suffering from serious addictions or psychological compulsions, You may require more assistance than just self-affirmation and it is best to take medical advice. To recap, Expressing one's core values strengthens the personal willpower. This strengthening can counteract your automatic or habitual response and replace it with a conscious, Willful response that changes your ability to manage your life. As we're all struggling in things that are beyond our control, Particularly during this pandemic, It is helpful to focus on things that we can control and change. That is our response to these uncertainties. It is possible to build strength and resiliency by understanding our core values in these difficult times. I wish you a journey of peace, Love, And well-being in living your purpose. Salaam.