— Determine Your Top 5, rank order them, focus on the top three, and be sure you know your #1 Core Value.

Discovering how to make positive life and work choices needs to begin with a person’s value foundation. Many people begin with skills, your natural gifts, or capabilities. This is recommended by many and is also important. My suggestion however is to begin with values. Determine your top 5 values, and rank order them. Be sure your purposeful work includes your #1 value. When people attend to all the other components of working their purpose and things still don’t feel like a fit, it is usually that values are not in alignment with important relationships, co-workers, management or the organization.

In the book, “What to Do Between Birth and Death”, Charles Spezzano speaks to the value of time. He says that people don’t pay for things with money; they pay for them with time. If you say to yourself, “In five years, I’ll have enough money to take the trip of a lifetime, then what you are really saying is that the trip will cost you five years — one-twelfth of your adult life. “The phrase spending your time is not a metaphor, “said Spezzano. “It’s how life works.”

Get energy back on your side by visiting and revisiting your values and core principles often. An easy to complete online Values Card Sort is provided compliments of the University of Minnesota, College of Continuing Education as an outreach to the community. Available for personal use, non-profit and pro bono activities you will find it at: http://oca.cce.umn.edu/prototypes/cardsort/values/

Leadership guru, John Maxwell, in his book, “The Maxwell Daily Reader”, encourages us to ask ourselves, “Are the tasks on today’s agenda worthy of your life?” What we spend our time on is what we value. After you complete the Values Card Sort you will want to check your top 5 values against where you have spent your time today, the last week, month, and year. What you spend your time on becomes your life.

In their book, “Be Your Own Brand, A Breakthrough Formula for Standing Out from the Crowd,” my friend, David McNally and his co-author Karl Speak say, “acting in concert with your values not only effects your relationships with others, it also has a highly positive effect on your relationship with yourself.”

Your clear values are your core relationship with yourself. Taking your core values to life and work develops your distinctive, relevant, clear and consistent vision creating authentic confidence. Once you respect yourself in this way others will respect you also.

What are your top 5 values? Is the time you are spending on activities in alignment with your values, particularly your top #1 core value? Knowing your values can be especially helpful and important in personal branding and career change.