Understanding Your Personal Values

Personal values are the beliefs that guide the way you live, make decisions, and relate to others. They help you understand what matters most to you and can provide a sense of direction when you’re faced with important choices.

Sometimes, our values are clear to us. Other times, they can be harder to identify, especially when we’re balancing different priorities, navigating changes, or making decisions based on what we think we should do rather than what really matters to us.

Why Your Values Matter

Knowing your personal values can help you better understand yourself and the choices you make. Your values can influence your relationships, career decisions, goals, boundaries, and how you spend your time and energy.

When your actions are aligned with your values, you may feel a greater sense of purpose, authenticity, and satisfaction. When there is a disconnect between what you value and how you are living, you may experience frustration, stress, or a feeling that something is missing.

There are no “right” or “wrong” personal values. What matters most is identifying the principles that are meaningful to you.

Identifying Your Values

Take a moment to consider the following questions:

What is most important to me in life?
What qualities do I want to bring to my relationships and work?
What do I want to stand for?
When have I felt most fulfilled or proud of myself?
What do I want my choices to reflect?

Use these questions as a starting point, rather than trying to find the “perfect” answer.

Choosing Your Core Values

Review the list of values below and select 3–5 values that feel most important to you. Try to choose the values that genuinely resonate with you, rather than the ones you think you should choose.

If a value that matters to you isn’t included, that’s OK, the list is to get you thinking.

Once you’ve selected your values, take some time to reflect on what each one means to you personally. Two people might choose the same value—such as freedom, family, or success—but define and express that value in very different ways.

Your values are not a test and they can change over time.

A Values Check-In

After identifying your values, consider how well your current life reflects them. You might ask yourself:

What am I doing that reflects my values?

Where is there a gap between what I value and how I’m living?

What is one small change I could make to live more in line with my values?

You don’t need to change everything at once. Sometimes, a small, intentional shift can be a great first step toward living in greater alignment with what matters most to you.

List of Values:

Acceptance
Achievement
Adventure
Authenticity
Balance
Beauty
Belonging
Caring
Community
Compassion
Confidence
Connection
Creativity
Curiosity
Dependability
Discipline
Empathy
Equality
Excellence
Fairness
Faith
Family
Freedom
Friendship
Fun
Generosity
Growth
Honesty
Hope
Humility
Independence
Integrity
Justice
Kindness
Knowledge
Leadership
Learning
Loyalty
Patience
Perseverance
Personal growth
Respect
Responsibility
Security
Self-awareness
Self-discipline
Self-expression
Service
Simplicity
Spirituality
Stability
Trust
Understanding
Wellness
Wisdom
Work-life balance
Contribution
Courage
Gratitude
Health
Purpose
Reliability
Resilience
Success
Tradition
Vulnerability