Feeling stuck? A simple, powerful writing exercise to make life easier.

Get to know yourself better with this simple writing exercise.

I have a business coach. He guides me through this crazy, emotional and wildly satisfying world of entrepreneurship.

More importantly, he inadvertently guides me through the equally crazy, emotional and wildly satisfying world of life.

Despite my best intentions, I find myself stuck in old, tired patterns and belief systems. (And I feel too old and too tired to keep reliving them.)

Noticing this, my coach invited me to break these patterns and belief systems. The first step in doing so was to identify my core values.

Which I thought I already knew. (I almost eye-rolled, like, come on, I’m 37, I know my core values, dude.)

Turns out, I did not. At all. And what I uncovered really surprised me. (Don’t you love this kind of stuff?)

I consented to the task immediately and we got to work. Me, my coach, my journal. Pen & paper ready, he guided me through the following exercise. Simple yet incredibly powerful, I want to share it with you.

So get a pen, get some paper, and start uncovering your core values.

Ask yourself the following: What drives me? To get out of bed, to start a new day, to keep up this game of life? One word. Write it down.

Take my answer as an example. Travel.

Then ask yourself: What does this give me?

Well, presence.

What does presence give me?

Time.

What does time give me?

Fulfillment.

And so on. Creativity. Inspiration. A strong relationship to self. Confidence.

Continue until you’re out of words. It might be 4 words or it might be 40. Eventually, you will come to a stop. Either it feels like it’s time to stop, or you find your words are repetitive.

You have now uncovered one of your core values.

I was thoroughly surprised to find my most consistent core value (yes I have done this exercise a good 14 times, it’s fun!) is:

Peace.

Which is a word that makes A LOT of sense, but a word I honestly never considered that important before. Evidently, it is! Now, I know what to lean into. If it gives me peace, I’m in. If not, I’m out.

Do it. Have fun with it. And if you want to share it, send me an email.