Core Words: Defining and knowing yourself

Core Words. Core words are words that describe you, words that reflect who you are and who you want to be. They're words that resonate with your life. They're words that you build your life around. They're words that are you.

It is interesting to see through history - we find families, countries, organizations and companies that all had key words or mottos. These are their core words. In the Game of Thrones, House Stark is known for the words, "Winter is coming". These words embodied who they were, the guardians of the North. They are the shield against the evil of winter. The church in which I am the pastor at, Community Table, we have the words, "Faith, Community, Service." And when I was working at a recreation department at a Big 12 university, their motto was "Where Character Meets Competition."

These core words embody who the family is. These core words speak of the organization or entity that they represent.

So the question is, "Do you have core words for your life?"

I have four core words in my life: Integrity, Duty, Family, Faith.

These four words make up my world. Everything I do, every decision I make, is framed by these four lenses. This helps to simplify life a lot. When life is framed by the core words of your life, you start weeding out the unnecessary parts of life or the parts of life that don't add value to you and those around you.

This is the first in a 5-part series focusing on core words and how they impact and provide a field of operation for me. I invite you to be a part of that journey in seeing how having core words can help you simplify life and start focusing on those things that matter most to you. For me, I know it has.

So I leave you with this challenge:

What are your core words?

(This is part 5 of 5 pertaining to the ideal of Core Words.)

Part 1: Defining and Knowing Yourself

Part 2: What is Integrity

Part 3: Baseline of Faith

Part 4: Family

Part 5: Duty