How to define your values – 3 simple steps

Define your Personal or your Brand Values with this 3-step exercise. This exercise is from the first chapter of Brand Character Playbook. By the end you will have your Top5.

Our actions, behaviours and decisions are based on our personal values. Hard to make a decision? Maybe it’s worth checking in with your values? Same with brand values. Hard to make a decision? Then ask yourself – is the outcome of choice A or B going to be more aligned with our brand values?

So, what are your values right now in your life? Find a paper and pen or download and print the template.

Values task in the Brand Character Playbook

Step 1

What non-tangible things are most important to you?

Pick around 10 values from the examples below (you can also add your own), that you find most relevant to yourself and care about the most. Note them down.

advancement, adventure, autonomy, awareness, balance, beauty, collaboration, comfort, communication, compassion, contribution, creativity, dynamism, efficiency, expression, experimentation, fairness, faith, flexibility, fun, freedom, glory, health, honesty, honour, inspiration, intelligence, joy, justice, knowledge, love, legacy, mastery, mindfulness, passion, play, power, prestige, purpose, respect, risk, safety, sharing, simplicity, splendour, stability, support, sustainability, temperance, tradition, trust, unity, understanding, usefulness, victory, wealth, wellbeing, wisdom ... etc

Step 2

Pick the 5 most important out of the 10 and create a Top5.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Step 3

Add a short description to each Top5 value of how you bring these values to life through your actions.

Try using nouns + verbs. Avoid adjectives. Here is an example:

1. EXPERIMENTATION - To be a magician. To mix and remix. To test, learn & share. To create. To show new ways of looking at the world.

2. TRANSFORMATION - To transform boring into fun, long into short, text into visuals. To take what is and make it more awesome. To learn & grow in the process. To inspire with example.

etc.

It can get messy in the process, but you will get to the result

The suggestion to use nouns and verbs comes from my friend and mentor Jonathan Howard who’s been in advertising for many years and now is a creativity trainer for best agencies in the world. He explains that nouns and verbs have more meaning than most adjectives, for example edgy & modern does not really say anything... He says that measurable adjectives are OK to use (soft, fast, long etc) so remember this when coming up with the descriptions.

Now when you have defined your Top5 and described how you bring these values to life save your personal list somewhere or add the list to your Brandbook :)

Til next time!

x Arta