Values are the core part of Who You Are. They affect the decisions you make, and how you feel about any outcome in your life.
To answer the question of what type of person you want to be to achieve your vision, you start with understanding your values.
What are Values
“Values are principles, standards or qualities that an individual (or group of people) hold in high regard. These values guide the way we live our lives and the decisions we make. A value may be defined as something that we hold dear, those things/qualities/ideas which we consider to be of worth.”
source: Nageswara Rao Posinasetti – University of Northern Iowa
Our values are the criteria we use consciously or unconsciously to evaluate our life. The more we are living according to our values the happier and more fulfilled we are.
Every choice we make in life either supports or opposes our values.
This can range from strongly supports to strongly opposes and everything in-between. When we understand our values, we can make decisions that maximize the support of our values. The more our life design supports our values, the more we feel as if we are living our ideal life, the life we were meant to live, our purpose. Living our values supplies us with energy and momentum to move us forward towards our vision.
List of Values
The following is an extensive list of values. Many people need to see the different values to understand what the values mean so the result is this list.
| Abundance | Acceptance | Accessibility | Accomplishment | Accountability |
| Accuracy | Achievement | Acknowledgment | Activeness | Adaptability |
| Adoration | Adroitness | Advancement | Adventure | Affection |
| Affluence | Aggressiveness | Agility | Alertness | Altruism |
| Amazement | Ambition | Amusement | Anticipation | Appreciation |
| Approachability | Approval | Art | Articulacy | Artistry |
| Assertiveness | Assurance | Attentive | Attentiveness | Attractiveness |
| Audacity | Availability | Awareness | Awe | Balance |
| Beauty | Being the Best | Belonging | Benevolence | Bliss |
| Boldness | Bravery | Brilliance | Buoyancy | Calm |
| Calmness | Camaraderie | Candor | Capability | Capable |
| Care | Careful | Carefulness | Celebrity | Certainty |
| Challenge | Change | Charity | Charm | Chastity |
| Cheerfulness | Clarity | Cleanliness | Clear | Clear-mindedness |
| Clever | Cleverness | Closeness | Comfort | Commitment |
| Common Sense | Communication | Community | Compassion | Competence |
| Competition | Completion | Composure | Concentration | Conformity |
| Congruency | Connection | Consciousness | Conservation | Consistency |
| Contentment | Continuity | Contribution | Control | Conviction |
| Conviviality | Confidence | Coolness | Cooperation | Cordiality |
| Correctness | Country | Courage | Courtesy | Craftiness |
| Creation | Creativity | Credibility | Cunning | Curiosity |
| Daring | Decisive | Decisiveness | Decorum | Dedication |
| Deference | Delight | Dependability | Depth | Desire |
| Determination | Development | Devotion | Devoutness | Dexterity |
| Dignity | Diligence | Direction | Directness | Discipline |
| Discovery | Discretion | Diversity | Dominance | Dreaming |
| Drive | Duty | Dynamism | Eagerness | Ease |
| Economy | Ecstasy | Education | Effectiveness | Efficiency |
| Elation | Elegance | Empathy | Empower | Encouragement |
| Endurance | Energy | Enjoyment | Entertainment | Enthusiasm |
| Environmentalism | Equality | Ethical | Ethics | Euphoria |
| Excellence | Excitement | Exhilaration | Expectancy | Expediency |
| Experience | Expertise | Exploration | Expressive | Expressiveness |
| Extravagance | Extroversion | Exuberance | Fairness | Faith |
| Fame | Family | Famous | Fascination | Fashion |
| Fearless | Fearlessness | Feelings | Ferocious | Ferocity |
| Fidelity | Fierceness | Financial Independence | Firmness | Fitness |
| Flexibility | Flow | Fluency | Focus | Foresight |
| Fortitude | Frankness | Freedom | Friendliness | Friendship |
| Frugality | Fun | Gallantry | Generosity | Genius |
| Gentility | Giving | Goodness | Grace | Gratitude |
| Greatness | Gregariousness | Growth | Guidance | Happiness |
| Hard work | Harmony | Health | Heart | Helpfulness |
| Heroism | Holiness | Honesty | Honor | Hope |
| Hopefulness | Hospitality | Humility | Humor | Hygiene |
| Imagination | Impact | Impartiality | Improvement | Independence |
| Individuality | Industry | Ingenuity | Innovation | Inquisitive |
| Inquisitiveness | Insightful | Insightfulness | Inspiration | Inspiring |
| Integrity | Intellect | Intelligence | Intensity | Intimacy |
| Intrepidness | Introspection | Introversion | Intuition | Intuitive |
| Intuitiveness | Inventiveness | Investing | Involvement | Influence |
| Irreverent | Joy | Judiciousness | Justice | Keenness |
| Kindness | Knowledge | Lawful | Leadership | Learning |
| Liberation | Liberty | Lightness | Liveliness | Logic |
| Longevity | Love | Loyalty | Majesty | Making a Difference |
| Marriage | Mastery | Maturity | Meaning | Meekness |
| Mellowness | Meticulousness | Mindfulness | Moderation | Modesty |
| Motivation | Mysteriousness | Nature | Neatness | Nerve |
| Non-conformity | Obedience | Open-mindedness | Openness | Optimism |
| Order | Organization | Originality | Outdoors | Outlandishness |
| Outrageousness | Partnership | Passion | Patience | Peace |
| Perceptiveness | Perfection | Performance | Perkiness | Perseverance |
| Persistence | Persuasiveness | Philanthropy | Piety | Playfulness |
| Pleasantness | Pleasure | Poise | Polish | Popularity |
| Potency | Potential | Power | Practicality | Pragmatism |
| Precision | Preparedness | Presence | Present | Pride |
| Privacy | Proactivity | Productivity | Professionalism | Prosperity |
| Prudence | Punctuality | Purity | Purpose | Quality |
| Rationality | Realism | Realistic | Reason | Reasonableness |
| Recognition | Recreation | Refinement | Reflective | Relaxation |
| Reliability | Relief | Religiousness | Reputation | Resilience |
| Resolution | Resolve | Resourcefulness | Respect | Responsibility |
| Rest | Restraint | Results-Oriented | Reverence | Reflection |
| Richness | Rigor | Risk | Sacredness | Sacrifice |
| Sagacity | Saintliness | Sanguinity | Satisfaction | Science |
| Security | Self-Control | Self-reliance | Self-respect | Selfless |
| Selflessness | Sensitivity | Sensuality | Serenity | Service |
| Sexiness | Sexuality | Sharing | Shrewdness | Significance |
| Silence | Silliness | Simplicity | Sincerity | Skill |
| Skillfulness | Smart | Solidarity | Solitude | Sophistication |
| Soundness | Speed | Spirit | Spirituality | Spontaneity |
| Spontaneous | Spunk | Stability | Status | Stealth |
| Stewardship | Stillness | Strength | Structure | Success |
| Support | Supremacy | Surprise | Sustainability | Sympathy |
| Synergy | Talent | Teaching | Teamwork | Temperance |
| Thankful | Thankfulness | Thorough | Thoroughness | Thoughtful |
| Thoughtfulness | Thrift | Tidiness | Timeliness | Tolerance |
| Toughness | Traditional | Traditionalism | Tranquility | Transcendence |
| Transparency | Trust | Trustworthiness | Trustworthy | Truth |
| Understanding | Unflappability | Uniqueness | Unity | Usefulness |
| Utility | Valor | Variety | Victory | Vigor |
| Virtue | Vision | Vitality | Vivacity | Volunteering |
| Warm-Heartedness | Warmth | Watchfulness | Wealth | Welcoming |
| Willfulness | Willingness | Winning | Wisdom | Wittiness |
| Wonder | Worthiness | Youthfulness | Zeal |
Discovering Your Values
The most effective way of determining your values is by journaling. Journaling gives you the opportunity to become aware of what you value, which reveals your values.
Awareness is a powerful thing. Journaling is a method of getting things out of your head and documented. This process requires you to formulate and organize your thoughts. Once in your journal, you will be more aware of who you are.
Asking yourself questions, journaling the answers, and reflecting on what you have written results in becoming aware of our values. Any question that results in you reflecting on what you think is valuable, important, and significant is a good question for determining your values.
Questions to determine your values
- What qualities or aspects does an experience require for the experience to make you happy? Review the list of values to help spark your imagination.
- What qualities or aspects does an experience require for the experience to make you proud? Review the list of values to help spark your imagination.
- What qualities or aspects does an experience require for the experience to make you fulfilled? Review the list of values to help spark your imagination.
- What are the values of someone you admire? Why do you admire them?
- As a child what were you rewarded for? Hard work, creativity, interpersonal skills, etcetera.
- What is your career? An entrepreneur is going to have different values than a neurosurgeon.
- What do you spend money on? You potentially buy things or experiences for the value they satisfy.
You Can Choose Your Values
You can always choose your values.
You can choose to have values such as health, gratitude, fairness. These are all values that if they are incorporated into your life will make your life better.
Other values are deeply ingrained with who you are. Your social, family, friends, love values will be affected by how introverted or extroverted you are. When you are choosing these types of values you are choosing to foster and grow them.
Every value contains part of who you are. Some people value creativity and freedom because it allows who they really are to come out. Other people value achievement and striving because it is who they are.
Choosing and discovering your values go hand in hand.
Know Your Values
Some of your values may not have been your choice. You have the value because of family, upbringing, society, culture. These are the values that may potentially conflict with other values you have or values you don’t feel deeply. When you have conflicting values, you cannot have a fulfilled life because you will always be opposing one of your values.
This is why making a conscious effort to identify your values is so important. When we identify conflicting values, we can choose what we want to value. When we choose which values we have, we feel those values deep into the core of our being.
Once identified, values are relatively stable, changing slowly as you go through life and experience life’s events. School, kids, retirement, age are all different phases of our life and potentially will change what you value. Conversely, we may subconsciously change our values where we are not aware, we just have some inner push to make a big change in our lives. Understanding and knowing your values and how they change over time offers glimpses into the purpose of your life’s journey.
Having a strong sense of your values gives you the measurement to evaluate your life journey and to make good decisions on that path.
Make Value-Based Decisions
When you are aware of your values you will make better life decisions. You will create goals that are congruent with your values, that you can achieve with more energy because they are aligned with who you really want to be.
Your values create a framework for evaluating your life design. The more aware of your values, the more your life decisions will be congruent, the more you will feel you are living the life you were meant to live. Your values are a way of categorizing what is important to you at a deep level. The more our mission and vision support our values, the more motivation we have to live our values. One side supports the other.
Every decision should be evaluated against each of your values to see if the decision supports or opposes the value. Ideally, all your decisions should support your values.
Live a Values-Driven Life
Values are the criteria for measuring all aspects of your life design. The goal of a life design is to create a life you want, a life that you value. That value is determined by evaluating your life design against your values.
If you value freedom, you are going to evaluate the different aspects of your life design against the freedom that they create.
Values are the criteria for your ongoing life journey. All your life decisions should be evaluated based on your values. The direction you choose to go in life should maximize your values.
By living life in alignment with your values you will:
- Live a life of integrity
- Have Balance in life
- Make Better life decisions
- Acquire More self-awareness
- Live A more meaningful life
- Boost your self-esteem
- Be happier
- Be more fulfilled