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My Personal Values in Life

• Categories: Values of Life

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Words: 773 |

Published: Jan 31, 2024

Words: 773 | Pages: 2 | 4 min read

Table of contents

Introduction, body paragraph 1: personal value 1, body paragraph 2: personal value 2, body paragraph 3: personal value 3, counterargument.

• Adler, M. J. (2000). The four dimensions of philosophy: Metaphysical, moral, objective, categorical. Routledge.
• Miller, W. R., & Thoresen, C. E. (2003). Spirituality, religion, and health: An emerging research field. American Psychologist, 58(1), 24-35.
• Peterson, C., & Seligman, M. E. (2004). Character strengths and virtues: A handbook and classification. Oxford University Press.

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The meaning of personal values and how they impact your life

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What's the meaning of personal values?

Personal values versus core beliefs, why are personal values important, how can personal values improve self-awareness, how do personal values affect your professional life, 8 benefits of personal values, 10 examples of personal values, how to find your personal values: 6 tips, the importance of adapting your values, moving forward.

Whether you’re deciding to make a career change or trying to make space for more self-care , defining your personal values can act as a guide. But what’s the meaning of personal values, and how can you identify yours? 

You might not have a list of values sitting in your desk drawer. But the choices you’ve made throughout your life likely point to a pattern of priorities. 

Let’s say you value reaching certain professional milestones over excelling at your fitness goals . A new job offer comes your way. The recruiter explains that the schedule is demanding, and the job responsibilities have a steep learning curve.

But it’ll push you to grow your career in transformative ways. If you place a high value on your work goals , you’ll probably say “Yes,” even if it means stepping back from the 5K run you were training for. 

There’s no right or wrong answer when it comes to your personal values. Your true values can’t and shouldn’t be suppressed. They make life fulfilling and give you a better sense of self-awareness.

And without a clear understanding of them, you might struggle with self-discovery — the process of finding your true self. As a result, you may find it hard to make decisions, advance your career , or live a meaningful life .

Personal values are a set of guiding principles and beliefs that help you differentiate between “good” and “bad.” These are concepts like integrity versus dishonesty or hard work versus cutting corners. Everyone prioritizes their core values differently, and yours shape how you uniquely move through the world. 

Personal values influence your behaviors, relationships, and everyday life. They guide you through important decision-making, influence personal development, and carve your ideal career path. 

Everyone has a unique set of values. What matters to you might not align with your friends and coworkers. But you’re more likely to share personal core values with the people closest to you.

Research shows that you might even be more attracted to people who share your values . Partners, colleagues, and family members that share yours are big green flags for long-lasting relationships. 

And everyone expresses these values differently. Say you and your coworker both value community . Maybe you practice altruism and organize a company-wide food drive while your coworker plans leadership training for the whole team. These are both valid expressions of the same value. 

You may not be fully aware of your values, and identifying them can help you develop your career, cultivate interpersonal relationships, and spend your free time more purposefully. Understanding what’s important to you can help you align your actions with your inner self.

And this awareness helps you trim the toxic relationships, jobs, or situations that drain your energy so you can live your happiest life . It might even help you feel more fulfilled, since engaging in activities aligned with your values can ease depression and anxiety and improve your mental well-being .

Plus, having a career that reflects the types of values that are important to you can make you more passionate and purposeful in your work. This will ultimately help you succeed in your profession because you’ll have a deeper motivation to do well.

Both personal values and core beliefs guide your decisions and behavior, but you choose personal values and they’re typically positive, while you develop core bel iefs during childhood and they can be harmful or untrue.

You might value honesty and hard work, and you might carry the core belief that you shouldn’t express your emotions because your parents didn’t.

The value is something you think is important and want to express through your behavior, and the core belief is something you believe to be true about the world or yourself, regardless of the evidence. 

There are three types of core beliefs :

• Beliefs about the self
• Beliefs about other people
• Beliefs about the world

Adjusting these is often more difficult than re-evaluating your values, but you can do so by defining your core beliefs, noting where they stem from, and re-framing your understanding of the issue.

Your values form a significant part of your personal identity. They shape you into your authentic self and give you a sense of purpose and meaning, driving your personality, goal setting, and how you lead your life.

Your values also give you a better understanding of who you are. They help you work toward your dreams instead of against them. When you make decisions aligned with your personal values, you feel like your truest self. 

Personal values play an important role in your relationships, too. When you know how to articulate your values, you can set clear boundaries , establish healthy bonds, and develop relationships that honor your self-respect. 

And connecting with your values can help you connect with friends and coworkers who share them. A social network that shares your values can make your relationships more meaningful, supportive, and full of authenticity.

Lastly, prioritizing your values can help you communicate what you need in the workplace, with loved ones, and with friends. Sharing these important feelings can improve your overall well-being, since repressing your emotions can have harmful health effects . And psychologists believe that connecting to important personal values can act as strong motivation to recover your mental wellness . 

Self-awareness is your understanding of who you are and how you differ or align with other people. And self-knowledge — or how clearly you understand your values, attitudes, and behaviors — is integral to developing self-awareness. 

Deepening your self-awareness requires though tful self-reflection. It’s hard work that can make you confront behaviors, decisions, or actions that don’t align with the person you’d like to be. But it’s an important first step to self-improvement. 

Although it’s hard work, the self-awareness you gain through connecting with your personal values will encourage you to stay true to yourself, which will help you make better decisions , invest in your personal development, and strengthen positive relationships. Plus, the hard internal work can make you more confident, creative, and in control of your emotions .

Your personal values aren’t limited to your personal life. Let’s say one of your values is loyalty. This could impact your dependability at work and make you a reliable, trustworthy employee.

Being a loyal employee will help you move forward on your career path. Your coworkers may turn to you for leadership advice, and your manager might recommend you for promotions . 

Or, you could value honesty more than anything else. This could lead you to be a team player that values constructive criticism , collaboration , and integrity . That’s a trait your coworkers will recognize and appreciate, as it contributes positively to the team. 

Think about it this way: how could valuing confidence, determination, and perseverance affect your professional life? Your personal values influence who you are, so naturally, they shape the kind of employee or leader you are.

Personal values touch every aspect of your life. Besides improving your self-awareness and relationships, here are eight ways prioritizing your values can benefit your daily life:

• Boosts your confidence
• Provides you with a vision that informs long-term goals
• Creates a greater sense of purpose in your career goals and ambitions
• Helps you manage stress by focusing on what’s important in life
• Guides your decision-making with a sense of ethics, self-respect, and integrity 
• Informs a leadership style guided by treating others how you’d like to be treated
• Motivates you to be resilient during moments of conflict or great challenges
• Makes you feel more satisfied with the choices that are in alignment with your moral values

You might not know what values are important to you yet. That’s okay. It can take time to understand the meaning of personal values and what yours are. 

You might create an exhaustive list of values or just a few ideas, and you could rank them according to their importance. However you choose to define your personal values , the most important thing is to live by them. 

Here are 10 personal values examples you can use to create your list: 

• Professional achievements
• Independence
• Determination

You can choose your values intentionally, or they may also unconsciously develop as a result of your upbringing or culture. But even if you know how personal values are formed , it’ll likely still take some work to identify the values that guide your life. 

Here are six tips to help you find your values:

• Get to know yourself better by going on a journey of self-discovery
• Identify your short and long-term goals and the big priorities that connect them
• Limit influences (friends, family, coworkers, obligations) that try to dictate your personal values
• Reflect on times when you were the most at ease, and your well-being was at its best
• Think back to life experiences that felt like something was missing in your life, like teamwork , independence, or honesty
• Brainstorm a personal vision statement for your future and identify any core values

Life isn’t static — and neither are your values. At any time, life might throw a new challenge your way. A job, a growing family, or the end of a toxic relationship are all opportunities to self-reflect . And as you adapt to the changes , your values grow and shift with them.

Your values might move around in priority, too. Maybe you used to think a work-life balance was an optional job benefit. After having a child, it may become a non-negotiable priority. It’s important to adapt your values and set goals that reflect your current situation.

Otherwise, a demanding job that doesn’t give you room for your family values may leave you feeling burned out , resentful, or unmotivated. 

Making a habit of checking in and re-evaluating your personal values is a great way to make sure you strive for personal growth , respect your needs, and aren’t controlled by limiting beliefs . 

Values come in all shapes, sizes, and levels of importance. Finding your values takes sustained effort. They aren’t always as straightforward as you think. But they’re always with you, guiding your decisions and influencing your actions.

Now that you know the meaning of personal values, you can take the first step to identify yours and lead yourself to a more fulfilling life.

Committing to uncovering what you value in life will always pay off. You’ll have a greater sense of purpose, a better understanding of yourself, and be able to make decisions that help you achieve what you want in life.

Transform your life

Make meaningful changes and become the best version of yourself. BetterUp's professional Coaches are here to support your personal growth journey.

Elizabeth Perry, ACC

Elizabeth Perry is a Coach Community Manager at BetterUp. She uses strategic engagement strategies to cultivate a learning community across a global network of Coaches through in-person and virtual experiences, technology-enabled platforms, and strategic coaching industry partnerships. With over 3 years of coaching experience and a certification in transformative leadership and life coaching from Sofia University, Elizabeth leverages transpersonal psychology expertise to help coaches and clients gain awareness of their behavioral and thought patterns, discover their purpose and passions, and elevate their potential. She is a lifelong student of psychology, personal growth, and human potential as well as an ICF-certified ACC transpersonal life and leadership Coach.

Belief or value? Learn the difference and set yourself free

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How to Focus on Your Values in Your Personal Statement

This article was written based on the information and opinions presented by CEG Essay Specialist Kaila Barber in a CollegeVine livestream. You can watch the full livestream for more info.

What’s Covered: 

Identifying your own values, demonstrate your values with examples.

• Reflecting on Your Experiences

It’s important to keep in mind what your reader is hoping to learn from your personal statement. The statement is an opportunity to reflect on your experiences and demonstrate how you think about and relate to the world around you. Specifically, what are some of your values? What’s meaningful to you? What do you find important? 

Personal values can be things like communication, patience, nature, health, personal development, courage, self-love, authenticity, healthy boundaries, or even humor. Before you start drafting your personal statement, take a moment to reflect on the things that you find important and why. 

We’re all very different people coming from different backgrounds, and we have different experiences that impact our individual values. While some of your values will overlap with those of other people, your personal reflection on the values that resonate most with you will separate your statement from someone else’s. 

The best way to include your values, skills, and traits in your essay is to pair them with specific examples and anecdotes. Each anecdote should align with at least one of the values that you find most important and should be accompanied by your personal reflection on the value and its related experience. 

Here’s an example. A student does not have a parent or guardian around to shoulder the expenses of caring for them and their younger sibling. In their outline, the student says that they value autonomy, financial stability, and family. Throughout the essay, they demonstrate these values by talking about getting a part-time job to help support the family and caring for their sibling at home. They also excel academically and even petition to have an AP Physics II course offered at their school. 

The student has shown autonomy by taking the initiative to petition for the new course and by getting a job. They have also demonstrated that both financial stability and family are important to them by pitching in to support their parent and sibling.

Your examples should show your reader your values by being specific and personal to your background and experiences.

Reflecting on Your Experiences 

Reflecting on your values is an equally important part of the personal statement. Your reflections or insight should focus on not only your experiences but also who you are and who you want to become. The insight you include in your essay shows that you’ve really found meaning from your personal experiences.

Insight can take a few forms. A common way to show insight is by writing about a growth experience. Show how you went from point A in your life to point B, and share the lessons you’ve learned along the way. For example, people often reflect on how navigating a strenuous activity or challenge changed the way that they thought about themselves and what they could handle. Reflecting on that change in confidence is one way to demonstrate insight.

One of the clearest ways to explore insight is to self-reflect and write about how something has either connected you to, influenced, or reframed how you think of your own values. Maybe you once pushed yourself too hard, and that experience showed you the value of rest and mindfulness. Or perhaps a change in circumstances shifted or redefined your values to an extent. 

For example, a person might say that while they craved stability as a child because of their home life, they now see the value of risk-taking and adventure in enriching their own knowledge and experiences. In this example, both security and risk are important to the speaker, but their experiences ultimately shifted weight from one value to another.

Regardless of how you approach your personal statement, insight is the overarching meaning that you take away from the relevant experiences and values you’ve shared.

Are you looking for more guidance as you draft your personal statement? Check out this post on how to come up with a strong topic that wows your admissions reader!

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2 Defining My Personal Values

Donnette Noble & Jeni McRay

INTRODUCTION

What beliefs are important to you? What are the values that help to define who you are and impact what you think, how you act, and how you feel? These are questions that may seem simple to answer, but further study reveals that our values are driving factors in how we choose to live, learn, and lead. This chapter will examine what values are, how they develop, how they are used in decision-making, and how they impact our relationships, vocation, and other parts of our life.

CHAPTER OBJECTIVES

By the end of this chapter, you will be able to…

• define what values are and how they are formed.
• identify your current personal values.
• distinguish some of the cultural and/or social considerations that impact your values.
• understand how to leverage your values to drive positive change.

KEYWORDS: Beliefs, ideals, ethics, morals, alignment, values

Our values guide, motivate, and influence our attitudes and behaviors (Boer & Fischer, 2013). Values encompass our beliefs and ideals, and those are based on the things we learn from others – parents, peers, schools, faith-based communities, government, media, etc. (Fritz et al., 2005). Beliefs (Merriam-Webster, n.d.) are a state of mind or habits wherein trust or confidence is placed in a person or a thing; they are things that are accepted and considered to be true. Ideals (Merriam-Webster, n.d.) are standards or expectations of goals to achieve or models to emulate. Just like values, beliefs, and ideals will differ among people. See Figure 1 for examples of values.

Figure 1 |  Values Word Cloud

Quite simply, values are individually internalized attitudes about what is right, wrong, ethical, unethical, moral, and immoral. Values can influence our perceptions of problems, our preferences, and the choices we make related to our behavior. Examples of values include fairness, justice, honesty, freedom, equality, altruism, loyalty, and civility (Yukl, 2013). Values exist at the individual level, societal or communal level, national level, and within all types of organizations.

Values are not necessarily static, however, and can fluctuate over time when new information is made available, a new experience unfolds, or some new understanding reveals itself. Value systems will also vary, sometimes quite dramatically, from culture to culture and even among the various subcultures within a given country or region.

Our values frame how we view the world around us. This chapter addresses the individual beliefs that serve to motivate people to think and behave in certain ways. It also examines what influences people, shapes their values, and considers the conundrum of competing values as well as how and why values might shift over time. Furthermore, this chapter will present a clear distinction between ethics (studying the societal standards of right and wrong, a legal and codified set of agreed-upon behaviors) and morals (individual principles related to right and wrong). There should be congruence among our values, decision-making, approaches to leadership, and intentions. This chapter also shines a “spotlight” on a convicted felon who thought he held strong and ethical values, yet he participated in one of the biggest corporate fraud cases in United States (U.S.) history.

CHAPTER SPOTLIGHT

In 2000, Andrew Fastow, the former Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for Enron, was named CFO of the Year by CFO Magazine , but “This is my actual trophy,” he later told the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) as he held up his prison ID card (Coonan, 2016). “Every inmate in the federal system is supposed to carry this at all times,” explained Fastow (Coonan, 2016, para. 4). Here’s the interesting thing—he received both the award and the prison card in the same year. How do you become CFO of the Year at the same time that you are committing one of the biggest frauds in the history of corporate America?

In 1985, after the Federal Government deregulated natural gas pipelines, two companies (Houston Natural Gas and InterNorth) merged to form Enron. During the merger process, Enron incurred massive debt, but because of the deregulation of the industry, the company did not have exclusive rights to pipelines. This caused some problems for the company. For Enron to survive, it had to come up with a new and innovative strategy to generate profits and ensure a steady cash flow (Thomas, 2002). The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) hired a global management firm to develop a new strategy. The firm assigned Jeffrey Skilling, an experienced consultant, to take the lead in designing a revolutionary solution. Skilling quickly rose through Enron’s corporate ranks, and ultimately tapped Fastow to be a part of the team.

It was Fastow who was the real “mastermind behind a supremely complex network of off-balance-sheet special purpose entities and shell companies [that were] used to conceal years of massive losses [that were] leveraged on Enron stock” (Coonan, 2016, para. 6). Fastow was a genius in finding business management workarounds and tax loopholes, and all of the maneuvering he choreographed “was approved by the accountants at Enron, the outside auditors, the internal attorneys, the outside attorneys and the board of directors” (Coonan, 2016, para. 8).

Throughout the spring and summer of 2001, the risky deals Enron had made in terms of its underperforming investments began to unravel and caused the company to suffer a huge cash shortfall (Thomas, 2002) that ultimately led to its spectacular collapse when $1 billion in employee retirement funds and 5,000 jobs were wiped out overnight (Flanagan, 2020).

Prior to the collapse, Fastow considered himself to be a hero of sorts (Flanagan, 2020), but, in the end, he served six years in prison for his part in the fraud (a reduced sentence for providing evidence against his colleagues). Skilling (the CEO) served 12 years, and the Chairman of the Board (Ken Lay) died while awaiting his sentencing. Fastow, with the tacit approval of others, followed the rules but compromised values and hurt a lot of people in the process.

“For many organizations, values are a social glue” (Manning & Curtis, 2009, p. 105). Values are used to create a sense of corporate identity, and they can foster greater cohesion. They can also be relied upon to increase effective decision-making: “To be meaningful, values must enter into the daily practice of the organization [and] reflect enduring commitments, not vague and empty platitudes” (p. 105). When it came to Enron, the company’s core values of communication, respect, integrity, and excellence (Enron, 2000) were shrouded in hypocrisy.

As you reflect on this case study, can you think of other situations where people “followed the rules but compromised values”? Can you think of a situation where you have “followed the rules” but still compromised your own values?

“For millennia, philosophers, sociologists, psychologists, and others have tried to figure out just exactly what values are” (Sharma, 2015, p. 42). The word, values , comes from the Latin “valeo” which means to be strong (Sharma, 2015). According to Halstead and Taylor (2000), values can be broadly defined as the principles or fundamental convictions which serve as general guides to human behavior and the related actions are then judged as good or desirable (or not). They can also be considered “abstract ideals” as they relate to people’s behavior (Hanel et al., 2018, p. 1).

  In the 1930s, a psychologist, Gordon Allport (1937), created a list of values, or what he thought were easily recognized consistencies, that tend to define and support a person’s unique path in life (Sharma, 2015). The first of Allport’s values or consistencies is theoretical and encompasses the pursuit of truth and objectivity (something we’ve heard a lot about in the last couple of years but more about that later in the chapter). The second one, economic , is all about usefulness and practicality. The third is aesthetic, which focuses on harmony and beauty. The next is social, which is centered on love and compassion for people. Then there is political value which hinges on power, and finally , religious value which is defined by unity or moral excellence (Tsirogianni & Gaskell, 2011).

Each person is in possession of any number of values, and those values are tied to varying degrees of importance (Schwartz, 2012). For example, a value that may be critically important to one person may not be at all important to someone else. Relying on the works of many theorists over the years (Allport, 1961; Feather, 1995; Kluckhohn, 1951; Morris, 1956; & Rokeach, 1973), Schwartz (2012) contends there are six main features to values (pp. 3-4); (see Table 1).

  Table 1 |  What are Values?

  Defining Values

Social values are the standards that influence the judgments we have about ourselves and others, and they impress upon us what is important as we pursue our individual purpose in life; thus, they are also closely tied to our self-conception. As we endeavor to make value-enhancing choices across the different domains of our lives, we find that our values contribute to our sense of self-worth and efficacy (Tsirogianni & Gaskell, 2011). Values are used to characterize cultural groups, societies, and individuals. Additionally, they are used to trace personal changes over time and can explain the motivational bases of attitudes and behaviors (Schwartz, 2012).

The early years of a child’s life are often completely dependent on their parents: “Parents are a child’s first and most significant shapers of character” (MacElroy, 2003, para. 3). As we grow older, we develop our morals and values, not only based on parental influence but also on the influence from peers. As young people leave home and transition to college, more people come into their lives who play a part in shaping their sense of self (MacElroy, 2003). These new relationships, increased freedom, and more latitude in decision-making can result in shifts or challenges to previously held values.

Values have contextual relevance, and some may cross into different domains while others may not. Personal values related to self may include education, academic accomplishments, physical fitness, self-respect and esteem, responsibility, creativity, wealth, social status, or humor. Relationship values are comprised of concepts such as family, friends, love, loyalty, camaraderie, harmony, and diversity of perspectives. Justice, recognition, opportunities, expertise, and goal achievement are considered vocational values. Spiritual values may address forgiveness, reflection, integrity, wisdom, inner peace, and optimism.

One mechanism to help students assess their own values is adapted from the BCJ Institute for Learning and Development (See Figure 2).

  Figure 2 |  Values Wheel

When people take time to examine their values and think about what is important to them and why, they are more prepared to meet life’s challenges. Having a strong sense of values helps to create a road map that helps them to figure out things such as (BCJ, nd):

• What are their goals and how will they get there?
• What should be prioritized in life?
• How do they want to behave in certain situations?
• What is the best course of action when making decisions?
• What would they like their legacy to be?

There are, however, situations when people find themselves not living in accordance with their values, and this misalignment can create stress, anger, or anxiety and conjure up other negative emotions. Additionally, a lack of alignment can lead to poor or even unethical decision-making. This is why consistency among our values, thoughts, and actions is so critically important. Additionally, when we are living in alignment with our values, we are more resilient and better equipped to address difficulties that will inevitably arise over time.

Values Assessment

Begin this activity by dividing a piece of paper into three columns and label the columns, Personal, Professional, and Community. Under each of the three headings, make a list of values that are important to you personally, professionally, and in terms of community. For example, when it comes to personal values, love and kindness may be important to you. Professionally you might value transparency or integrity. When it comes to community you may value justice or safety. If you need help getting started, click this link for a list of 305 values.

Once you have developed a meaningful list of values, go back through the list and place a star by the five most important values in each of the three categories. For the purpose of this exercise, we will refer to these as your core values.

  Next, prioritize each of your five core values from each section and plot them by drawing the diagram from Figure 2 on a sheet of paper and placing the values in the appropriate category. The most important of the five core values from each list will be closest to the center of the diagram, whereas the values with lesser priority will be toward the periphery of the diagram in each section. Now you have the start of a personalized road map that will aid in helping you maintain consistency in your values, thoughts, and actions in three distinct spaces of your life – personal, professional, and community.

Be ready to discuss your values in each category with the class.

As you think about the motivational bases of attitudes and behaviors, consider what has happened since January 2020. The world has collectively lived with the COVID-19 pandemic, an experience that forced people to reevaluate what is important to them. People have had to reassess what they value and how those values affect their decisions in terms of living through unprecedented circumstances. The U.S. comprises less than 5% of the global population

(Whelan, 2020), yet leads the world in the total number of reported COVID cases (77,956,627) as well as reported deaths (923,110) as of February 15, 2022 ( John Hopkins, 2021 ). These figures have required that people reflect on the role of science in their lives, in addition to considering how mask mandates, social restrictions, and the availability of COVID vaccines impact their values, if at all. This raises one conundrum after another for thoughtful individuals who are trying to sift through the noise to find answers. For instance, do personal liberty and freedom (individual values) take precedence over the greater good of public health concerns (collective values)? The answers lie within the beliefs, ideals, and values each person holds.

  Leadership, Values, and Change

There are many facets to power, and it can be exerted for good or ill. A leader’s personal values and internal code of ethics may be among the most important determinants in terms of how a leader will exercise power (Hughes et al., 2015). Leaders will undoubtedly be faced with challenges time and again, and those challenges often lack simplistic answers. The key is doing what is right and not just what is expedient. This is where authentic leadership comes into play: “authentic leaders exhibit consistency among their values, their beliefs, and their actions” (p. 166), and “honesty, altruism, kindness, fairness, accountability, and optimism” have been identified as core values of authentic leaders (Yukl, 2013, p. 351). The tenets of altruism, fairness, and accountability can be significant drivers of social change.

The basic values we hold dear are those that help us set our course for action as responsible individuals and community members who are concerned with protecting our democratic society. Indeed, the Social Change Model (HERI, 1996) hinges entirely on values with an expectation that leadership will be inclusive. Leadership is a process and not a position, and it explicitly promotes additional values of equity, social justice, self-knowledge, personal empowerment, collaboration, citizenship, and service (Noble & Kniffin, 2021).

The year 2020 was rife with racial and social tensions in the United States. The calls for social justice were amplified after George Floyd was killed by a police officer in Minneapolis:

Floyd’s death sent a nation of people in quarantine out into the streets in mass protests. Major corporations issued statements in support of Black Lives Matter. Politicians promised a new direction. Years later, some activists argue there is still more work to be done to reach equity and social justice for Black and brown people (Gunderson, 2021, para. 2 – 3).

The Black Lives Matter movement is demonstrative of how racial and social tensions have the power to divide a society based on differing values systems. There is a delicate balancing act that must take place between individual values and those that are important to others. To bridge the gap that these differences create, we must use empathy to better understand the values behind differing opinions. By taking time to understand the values of others, we can identify ways to better engage with others.

Value Systems, Alignment, and Change

One of the national values of the U.S. is explicitly stated in what was considered its defacto motto until 1956, E Pluribus Unum , meaning “from the many, one” (B., 2011). It is a testament to the fact that, from its beginning, the U.S. has been a pluralistic society where different races, ethnicities, religions, traditions, and languages have converged to co-create and share a common national experience; however, the persistence of deep differences among the people residing in the United States raises the corollary challenge of how to maintain at least a basic level of social cohesion and solidarity when in fact, those “deep differences” (Hoover, 2016, p. 26) very often result in competing value systems. While some differences are accommodated, “Peaceful, constructive pluralism doesn’t “just happen.” It requires leadership, both from the top-down (government) and the bottom-up (civil society). Social flourishing becomes sustainable, even under conditions of deepening diversity, when all stakeholders develop reserves of commitment…” (Hoover, 2016, p. 27) to supporting one another and honoring the differences among us – including the ebb and flow of our fluctuating values.

Adding layers to the complexity of competing values are disparate views of both morals and ethics. While the terms are often interchanged, they are not necessarily the same thing. Both words refer to some form of proper conduct (Rosenstand, 1997). Morals address customs or habits, whereas ethics (or moral philosophy) is the study of moral judgments about what is virtuous (or not), just or unjust, right or wrong, good or bad or evil (Moore & Bruder, 2008).

While personality traits are relatively stable throughout one’s life, values are characteristic adaptations and motivational goals that can change as a function of developmental priorities at different ages and stages of one’s life (Gouveia et al., 2015). Schwartz (2012) proffers that there are three systematic sources of age-related differences that can result in shifts in values. These shifts can occur in response to a person’s changing roles associated with their stage in life (this is the first of the systematic sources of changing values). Some of the values of a young, relatively unencumbered, traditional-aged college student likely differ rather significantly when compared to those of a mid-career professional with a partner or spouse and children to raise. The second systematic source of shifts in values is the result of physiological or biological changes – changes in maturity and/or abilities which could include declines in energy and sharpness of the senses. Finally, changes in values can result from societal changes, including democratization and political and economic stability (Gouveia et al., 2015).

Broadly speaking, Brown (2012) suggests there are two buckets that people will put their values into – the practiced values bucket (what we are actually doing, thinking, and feeling) and the aspirational values bucket ( what we want to do, think, and feel). The difference between what is practiced and what is aspirational results in a values gap. Brown (2012) contends that disengagement is inevitable when practiced values conflict with aspirational values and expectations within a culture. Disengagement (detaching, releasing, disconnecting, or withdrawing from someone or something) is the issue underlying the majority of problems that exist in families, schools, communities, and organizations. We must, therefore, mind the gap and stay focused to ensure that our values are aligned and match our actions (Brown, 2012).

Values are messy and complex: “Thinking about [them] is not a luxury; you live them every day of your life. Your values show in the way you treat your friends, enemies, [and others], and they determine your politics, ethics, emotions, daydreams, life, and leisure” (Halberstam, 1993, p.

186). The way we engage our values and how they drive our lives is a lifelong process. What kind of a leader you are will be reflected in how you handle the challenges surrounding your beliefs, ideals, and values – particularly when they collide.

QUESTIONS FOR JOURNALING OR DISCUSSION

• If you are involved in or have completed a service-learning project this semester, identify some of the organizational values you observed. If you haven’t participated in a service-learning project before, identify some of the values you’ve observed in an organization that you have been a client or customer of (either non-profit or for-profit).
• How do the values you observed in the situations described above align with your own values (if they do)?
• If the values you observed are different from your own, what things do you think contributed to those differences?
• When you think of social change, what issues are important to you and which of your values are congruent with those issues?
• Think about a time when you had to work through a difficult situation where two or more of your values were in conflict. How did that make you feel and how did you resolve the situation?

Cave Rescue

Read the following Scenario about a caving accident. After reading the scenario, carefully complete the steps that follow in order. Please do not skip any steps in this process.

Your group is asked to take the role of a research management committee that is funding projects into human behavior in confined spaces. You have been called to an emergency meeting as one of the experiments has run into an emergency situation.

Six volunteers have been taken into a cave system in a remote part of the country connected only by a radio link to the research hut by the cave entrance. It was intended that the volunteers would spend four days underground, but they have been trapped by falling rocks and rising water.

The only rescue team available tells you that rescue will be extremely difficult, and only one person can be brought out each hour with the equipment at their disposal. It is likely that the rapidly rising water will drown some of the volunteers before rescue can be completed.

The volunteers are aware of the dangers of their plight. They have contacted the research hut using the radio link and said that they are unwilling to make a decision regarding the order in which they will be rescued. By the terms of the research project, the responsibility for making this decision now rests with your committee.

Life-saving equipment will arrive in 50 minutes at the cave entrance, and you will need to advise the team of the order for rescue by completing the ranking sheet provided below. The only information you have available is drawn from the project files and is reproduced on the volunteer personal details sheet that can be found below. You may use any criteria you think fit to help you make a decision.

• Individually, use a ranking sheet (see sample below) to indicate the order the volunteers should be extracted from the cave. Write your answers in the left-hand column. You have 10 minutes to do this.
• Working in your groups, discuss the order in which each of you believes each of the volunteers should be removed from the cave. Work to arrive at a group decision by sharing your reasons or criteria and working to develop criteria the group can agree to. Use the right-hand column to record the group consensus.
• Collectively, use a group ranking sheet (see example below) to present the order of extraction from the cave. Share with the class the order of extraction your group arrived at and the issues and values that were discussed in arriving at your decisions.

Cave Rescue Ranking Sheet

• Did your group establish a decision-making criterion? If so, what was it?
• Was consensus reached? If not, what criteria did you use to make your decisions?
• Did everyone feel their point of view was heard and considered by all other team members? Why or why not?
• Was anyone unhappy with the outcome? Why?
• What could other team members have done to listen and support each other?
• What emotions or feelings did you have that affected your ability to make decisions in this activity? What would you have recommended to the research team if this were a real activity?

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Flanagan, P. (2020, January 9). Enron’s former CFO Andrew Fastow once saw himself as ‘a hero.’ Chron. https://www.chron.com/business/energy/article/Andrew-Fastow-Who-Helped-Bring-Down-Enron-Saw-14962065.php

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Developing Human Potential Copyright © 2023 by Gina S. Matkin, Jason Headrick, Hannah M. Sunderman is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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How to Find, Define, and Use Your Values

• Irina Cozma

Your values should reflect the most important aspects of your life.

There’s so much power in understanding what your values are — they can help you make decisions, guide your career, and even live a happier life. But how can you think about your values in an intentional way?

• Step 1: Find your values. Your values aren’t hiding. Even if you haven’t vocalized them, they’re a reflection of the most important aspects of your life. To identify yours, reflect on what’s important to you, create a list of the top three things, and rank them if you can.
• Step 2: Define your values. Write down what each of the values you identified really means to you, and try to keep your definition as short as possible — you want to be able to easily remember your values and how you define them. Ask yourself: If somebody were to wake me in the middle of the night and ask me to define my values, could I answer?
• Step 3: Use your values. You’ll know you have identified your values and truly defined them once you find yourself looking at the world around you through the framework of your values. One way to practice using your values is to reflect on a situation that’s frustrating you. Ask yourself: What is lurking behind my frustration? Is one of my values not being met?

What are your values?

• Irina Cozma , Ph.D., is a career and executive coach who supports professionals to have better career adventures. She coached hundreds of Fortune 500 executives from global organizations like Salesforce, Hitachi, and Abbott. Irina also coaches startups and the Physicians MBA at the University of Tennessee. Download her free career guide to help you prepare for your next career adventure.

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Article • 9 min read

What Are Your Values?

Deciding what's important in life.

By the Mind Tools Content Team

Key Takeaways

• Your personal values are a central part of who you are – and who you want to be.
• By becoming more aware of these vital factors in your life, you can use them as a guide to make the best choice in any situation.
• Some of life's decisions are really about determining what you value most. When many options seem reasonable, you can rely on your values to point you in the right direction.
• When how you live matches your values, life is usually good. When your existence doesn't align with your personal values, that's when things feel... wrong and you can feel unhappy.

How would you define your values?

Before you answer this question, you need to know what, in general, values are.

Your values are the things that you believe are important in the way you live and work.

They (should) determine your priorities, and, deep down, they're probably the measures you use to tell if your life is turning out the way you want it to.

When the things that you do and the way you behave match your values, life is usually good – you're satisfied and content. But when these don't align with your personal values, that's when things feel... wrong. This can be a real source of unhappiness.

This is why making a conscious effort to identify your values is so important. So in this article and in the video, below, we're going to take a look at how you can identify your personal values.

How Values Help You

Values exist, whether you recognize them or not. Life can be much easier when you acknowledge your values – and when you make plans and decisions that honor them.

If you value family, but you have to work 70-hour weeks in your job, will you feel internal stress and conflict? And if you don't value competition, and you work in a highly competitive sales environment, are you likely to be satisfied with your job?

In these types of situations, understanding your values can really help. When you know your own values, you can use them to make decisions about how to live your life, and you can answer questions like these:

• What job should I pursue?
• Should I accept this promotion?
• Should I start my own business?
• Should I compromise, or be firm with my position?
• Should I follow tradition, or travel down a new path?

So, take the time to understand the real priorities in your life, and you'll be able to determine the best direction for you and your life goals !

Values are usually fairly stable, yet they don't have strict limits or boundaries. Also, as you move through life, your values may change.

For example, when you start your career, success – measured by money and status – might be a top priority.

But after you have a family, work-life balance may be what you value more.

As your definition of success changes, so do your personal values. This is why keeping in touch with your values is a lifelong exercise. You should continuously revisit this, especially if you start to feel unbalanced... and you can't quite figure out why.

As you go through the exercise below, bear in mind that values that were important in the past may not be relevant now.

Defining Your Values

When you define your personal values, you discover what's truly important to you. A good way of starting to do this is to look back on your life – to identify when you felt really good, and really confident that you were making good choices.

Step 1: Identify the times when you were happiest

Find examples from both your career and personal life. This will ensure some balance in your answers.

• What were you doing?
• Were you with other people? Who?
• What other factors contributed to your happiness?

Step 2: Identify the times when you were most proud

Use examples from your career and personal life.

• Why were you proud?
• Did other people share your pride? Who?
• What other factors contributed to your feelings of pride?

Step 3: Identify the times when you were most fulfilled and satisfied

Again, use both work and personal examples.

• What need or desire was fulfilled?
• How and why did the experience give your life meaning?
• What other factors contributed to your feelings of fulfillment?

Step 4: Determine your top values, based on your experiences of happiness, pride, and fulfillment

Why is each experience truly important and memorable? Use the following list of common personal values to help you get started – and aim for about 10 top values. (As you work through, you may find that some of these naturally combine. For instance, if you value philanthropy, community, and generosity, you might say that service to others is one of your top values.)

Common Personal Core Values

Step 5: prioritize your top values.

This step is probably the most difficult, because you'll have to look deep inside yourself. It's also the most important step, because, when making a decision, you'll have to choose between solutions that may satisfy different values. This is when you must know which value is more important to you.

• Write down your top values, not in any particular order.
• Look at the first two values and ask yourself, "If I could satisfy only one of these, which would I choose?" It might help to visualize a situation in which you would have to make that choice. For example, if you compare the values of service and stability, imagine that you must decide whether to sell your house and move to another country to do valuable foreign aid work, or keep your house and volunteer to do charity work closer to home.
• Keep working through the list, by comparing each value with each other value, until your list is in the correct order.

If you have a tough time doing this, consider using Paired Comparison Analysis to help you. With this method, you decide which of two options is most important, and then assign a score to show how much more important it is. Since it's so important to identify and prioritize your values, investing your time in this step is definitely worth it.

Step 6: Reaffirm your values

Check your top-priority values, and make sure that they fit with your life and your vision for yourself.

• Do these values make you feel good about yourself?
• Are you proud of your top three values?
• Would you be comfortable and proud to tell your values to people you respect and admire?
• Do these values represent things you would support, even if your choice isn't popular, and it puts you in the minority?

When you consider your values in decision making, you can be sure to keep your sense of integrity and what you know is right, and approach decisions with confidence and clarity. You'll also know that what you're doing is best for your current and future happiness and satisfaction.

Making value-based choices may not always be easy. However, making a choice that you know is right is a lot less difficult in the long run.

Top Tip for Defining Your Own Core Values

You can breathe life into your values by defining briefly, in writing, what they represent to you. Crystalizing what they stand for and why they matter to you will help embed their importance.

Keep the definitions short and write them in your own words, so you are really connected to them. These definitions will be handy reminders of who you are and what matters most to you – when and if you need reminding when there are decisions to be made.

For example, if one of your core values is “creativity” you might say, “I value it because the ability to solve problems and to come up with fresh, new ideas brings me joy and a deep sense of fulfillment.”

Frequently Asked Questions About Values

What does it mean to have values.

Your values are the beliefs and principles that you believe are important in the way that you live and work.

They (should) determine your priorities, and guide your decisions and the way you act towards others. When the things that you do, and the way that you behave, match your values, life is usually good.

Why Are Personal Values Important?

Understanding your values can really help make life easier and make you happier.

This happens because when you acknowledge your values – and make plans and decisions that honor them – you can use your values to make truly informed decisions about how to live your life.

By understanding the real priorities in your life, you'll be able to determine the best direction for you and meaningful life goals.

Identifying and understanding your values is a challenging and important exercise. Your personal values are a central part of who you are – and who you want to be. By becoming more aware of these important factors in your life, you can use them as a guide to make the best choice in any situation.

Some of life's decisions are really about determining what you value most. When many options seem reasonable, it's helpful and comforting to rely on your values – and use them as a strong guiding force to point you in the right direction.

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Comments (6)

tom like lachie

i think i might be pregnant and i am a boy so i am pooing bricks

Naazish Mohsin

Interesting write up where are the references?

I would highly recommend people to try a scientific core values finder assessment instead of informal quizes.

Mauro Tapia

has a good balance.

Donagh Kenny

excellenet resource

about 1 year

Latrece Thomas

I feel that everyone should set high values for themself. Integrity is a value I think 🥰 everyone should honor.

i think i might be pregnant

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What are your values, do some exercises to better understand which values matter most to you..

Posted November 1, 2021 | Reviewed by Devon Frye

A value can be defined as "an enduring belief upon which a person acts." Values are similar to attitudes and beliefs in that they have cognitive, emotional, and behavioral parts. But researchers suggest that values are more enduring and long-lasting than either beliefs or attitudes (Limthanakom, Lauffer, Mujtaba, & Murphy Jr, 2008).

The Two Types of Values

There are thought to be two different types of values: instrumental values and terminal values.

• Instrumental values are about desirable ways to act or behave (e.g., honest, responsible, loving).
• Terminal values are about desirable end states (e.g., health, freedom, family security; Gibson, Greenwood, & Murphy Jr, 2009).

Some of us prefer one type of value over the other (Allen, Ng, & Wilson, 2002). But we all have both of these types of values that guide our lives to some extent.

Why Values Matter

Our values have a big influence on how we act. Acting in ways that go against our values doesn’t make us feel great. So, we generally try to be consistent with our values. In fact, shifting our values in small ways can shift our actions.

For example, one study showed that priming people with achievement values increased their success at completing a puzzle but made them less helpful to the experimenter. The value of achievement led them to act in ways that seemed likely to support achievement. But another study showed that priming people with a benevolence value decreased their success at the puzzle and increased their helpfulness (Maio, Pakizeh, Cheung, & Rees, 2009).

This suggests it can be really helpful to get clear on our values. If we know what’s driving us then we’ll better understand why we do the things we do.

There are tons of values to choose from. So how do you know which ones yours are? One way to find out is by ranking them from most important to least important. Start with some introspection : ask yourself if you hold any of the following values. Then for the values that you do have, rank them from most important to least important. (Feel free to add any values you have that are missing from the list).

List of Values

• Cooperation
• Self-Discipline
• Perseverance
• Healthy Relationships
• Spirituality
• Responsibility
• Open-Mindedness
• Authenticity
• Recognition

Try to get your list down to your top three to four values. Also, try to make sure that these values represent different parts of yourself.

Act On Your Values

To make each of your values actionable, add a verb to it. In other words, describe how you will live each of your values.

• For example, if your value is “​love,” what will your action be? It could be to "practice loving-kindness ," "show love," or even "receive love with acceptance."
• If your value is “growth,” your actions might be to "try new things" or "take online courses."
• If your value is “fun,” your actions might be to "spend time with friends," or "fill your day with activities."

Not all values are easy to add a verb to, so just do your best. This can help you feel like you’re in alignment with your values, live your values, and boost your well-being.

Adapted from an article published by The Berkeley Well-Being Institute .

Allen, M. W., Ng, S. H., & Wilson, M. (2002). A functional approach to instrumental and terminal values and the value‐attitude‐behaviour system of consumer choice. European journal of Marketing.

Gibson, J. W., Greenwood, R. A., & Murphy Jr, E. F. (2009). Generational differences in the workplace: Personal values, behaviors, and popular beliefs. Journal of Diversity Management (JDM), 4(3), 1-8.

​​Limthanakom, N., Lauffer, W., Mujtaba, B. G., & Murphy Jr, E. F. (2008). The Ranking Of Terminal And Instrumental Values By Working Professionals In Thailand, Singapore And The United States: What Is Important And How Do They Impact Decision-Making? International Business & Economics Research Journal (IBER), 7(4).

Maio, G. R., Pakizeh, A., Cheung, W. Y., & Rees, K. J. (2009). Changing, priming, and acting on values: effects via motivational relations in a circular model. Journal of personality and social psychology, 97(4), 699.

Tchiki Davis, Ph.D. , is a consultant, writer, and expert on well-being technology.

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61 Personal Values Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

🏆 best personal values topic ideas & essay examples, 💡 interesting topics to write about personal values, ✅ good essay topics on personal values.

• Personal Values and Beliefs in Ethical Issues Therefore, the constructs of deontology have enabled me to make decisions based on my responsibilities and obligations as per the expectations of society.
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• The Effects of Modern Popular Culture on Personal Beliefs and Values I persisted with this behavior until I was admitted to the university where the modern culture dwells on wearing casually. This essay has showed that modern popular culture changes the beliefs and behaviors of people […]
• Study of Values: ‘A Scale for Measuring the Dominant Interests in Personality’ by G. Allpor Therefore, within the scope of such studies, it is interesting enough what the way out of such bias will be since the questions are created by the test author who actually decides himself what the […]
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• Personality and Values in Human Services Practice In order to overcome this problem, I plan to find a colleague who can help me review the plans and assessments of current situations to ensure that I cover all the basic issues.
• Personal Values and Cardinal Values of the Social Work The proponent of this paper will identify the personal values that are congruent and those that are in conflict with social work’s professional values and what can be done to resolve the conflict in order […]
• Nursing Values: Professional and Personal The nurse manager encourages staff to implement innovations in care and try new approaches to enhance the quality of services. It is possible to conclude that the nurse manager at my workplace presents the professional […]
• Core Values in Personal Belief System These are my core values and include happiness, family, friends, pleasure and financial security and stability. In conclusion, I agree that values are important to my life.
• Career Path Aligned With Personal Values As such a person has to be aware that the goal of writing a text is to communicate and not to merely write thereby choosing the appropriate writing skills.
• Personal Values and Its Contributions on Life Mission As it would be observed, the list of personal values is endless, and this means that different people in the world have different types of personal values that they tend to implement into their lives.
• Business Ethics: Job Requirements vs. Personal Values As underlined by the client, the management’s attitudes to proprietary information are relaxed, and most of the employees would go to great extents to obtain the information required for their projects.
• Personal Values vs. Organizational Values In such a situation, an employee can always refer to the statement when compelled to perform tasks that violate personal values.
• Business Protocols and Personal Values Conflict In order to avoid such conflicts, Chappell asserts that if faced with this type of conflict, one may leave the workplace, do what is required, or come up with a strategy that addresses the issue […]
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• Differences Between Personal Values, Ground Rules, and Ethics Development
• Comparison of Organizational Culture and Personal Values
• Personal Values and Attitudes of a Disability Support
• Importance of Personal Values in Counseling
• Social Values: What Is a Personal Value?
• Importance of Personal Values in the Medical Field
• Personal Values: Meaning and Value of the Work Environment
• The Relationship Between Personal Values and Ethical Standards
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Personal Values: Meaning And Importance Of Personal Values

Have you ever been in a situation where someone said something you strongly disagreed with but you held your tongue?…

Have you ever been in a situation where someone said something you strongly disagreed with but you held your tongue? When you were unable to speak up and regretted it later?

There are certain things in life we value and prioritize. These things even define the way we lead or want to lead our lives. When we live by these personal values, we feel better about ourselves as we focus on things that matter to us most.

Why is it that personal values hold such significance in our lives? Let’s find out. 

Meaning Of Personal Values

Why are personal values important, the role of personal values in the workplace, how to find and strengthen your values, conclusion  .

Before we look at the definition of personal values, let’s take some time to understand what the word ‘value’ stands for. At its simplest, value is a quality that’s desirable, something of worth. Our values are important as they help us grow and create the future we want to experience. They guide our behavior, attitudes and beliefs and our motivation.

Personal values are those beliefs we hold most dear. They can be desirable goals that motivate our actions and guide us through our lives. Values often weave into our personalities and define who we are. They become a part of us and influence our decisions and actions. Personal values differ from person to person and are often affected by one’s culture, upbringing and life experiences—among other factors.

The simplest way to identify your personal values is to reflect on your personality and behaviors. Some of these values are recognized as universal rules of conduct and morality. Our lives are shaped by what values we choose to prioritize and adapt.  Values aren’t always visible to others; they’re expressed through actions, words and behaviors. 

Knowing your values can help you lead a more authentic and fulfilling life. After all, they’re the primary drivers behind our personality and actions. When we tap into our principles and beliefs, it gives us a chance to reinvent ourselves and aim for a better life. With increased self-assurance and confidence, it’s easier to find our purpose, make decisions with greater efficiency and navigate challenging situations. Discovering our own important personal values has the following advantages:

Increases Self-Awareness

Self-awareness has gained a lot of attention, along with the concept of self-love, in recent times.  Awareness of your own personality, strengths, weaknesses, faults and skills is an invaluable trait. It’s linked to creating meaningful interpersonal relationships and personal development. Understanding who you are, what you stand for and what drives you starts with identifying our personal values.

Influences Our Outcomes

Knowing yourself is important, but what do you do with that self-knowledge? When you understand yourself and prioritize the things you value in life, you know how to play to your strengths. The path to personal reinvention is through change and you can exercise greater control over outcomes when you know how to embrace change. This type of change starts from changing our actions and mindset; it’s possible only when we understand our personal values.

Improves Quality Of Life

Gaining clarity about who you are is fundamental to leading your best and most fulfilling life. Personal values provide the groundwork to create your most authentic and purposeful life. ( https://modtreks.com/ ) It can help you identify your motivations, set healthy boundaries and make important life decisions. Life can become so much more fun and satisfying when you have clarity about your needs and expectations.

Personal values aren’t limited only to your personal life. Even your professional life can benefit from a deeper understanding of such values. 

Recognizing, understanding and staying true to your personal values are some of the most admirable qualities of a professional. The people, their culture and the underlying values drive a workplace.  When your values align with the organization, it helps you guide your choices and actions.  Values become the crux of better understanding and can help you avoid misunderstandings and conflict. In short, personal values in the workplace inform our behavior and set us up for greater job satisfaction. Here are some of its other benefits:

Helps You Gain Self-Respect

Standing up for what you believe and sticking to your guns is a guaranteed way to gain self-respect. When you don’t believe in the things you value most, it’s difficult for others to respect you. Communicating your values is a great way to build self-respect. For example, if you feel unheard in meetings, speak up or find ways to do so.

Helps You Be Clear About Your Expectations

Identifying your personal values can inform your job searches and career trajectory. By having a clear sense of what values matter most, you can seek roles and industries that help you work on those values. When your personal values align with an organization’s values, it’s a match made in heaven. You’ll find purpose in your job when the organization values the same things as you do.

Helps You In Decision-Making

The modern job market can often be intimidating as there is a sea of opportunities available. It can confuse you and make it difficult to make an informed decision. Being confident about your values can fast-track the process and help you identify opportunities that are right up your alley. Your career path can get much-needed direction with the help of your core values.

Helps You Stay Motivated, Focused And Engaged

Values keep us happy and motivated across all areas of life, including the workplace. However, there will be times when we don’t agree with the process, vision or mission of an organization. Productivity and efficiency are automatically going to suffer. To avoid this, it’s important to remind ourselves of our values and the goals we want to achieve in the long term. This way, we stay focused, engaged and driven.

Helps You Enjoy Your Life

There are some core values we hold dear throughout our lives. However, there are some values that keep changing according to current needs and situations. Values help us prioritize what we need and expect from our professional life and we keep revisiting this list from time to time. Being in touch with our inner selves is a great way to reach fulfillment in our experience at work.

Therefore, clarity about values creates a strong foundation—setting us up for happiness in both life and at work. 

There are several questions and tactics you can use to discover what exactly your list of most important personal values looks like. These tips will help you get started:

Get To Know Yourself Better

You can’t define your personal values unless you know yourself well. To get a 360-degree picture of you, start being honest with yourself. Consider asking yourself the following questions:

What’s important to me in my life?

What am I most proud of?

When was I the happiest?

What sort of behavior and actions make me angry?

If I didn’t have to worry about money, what career would I pursue?

You can answer these questions by brainstorming answers and writing them down. Revisiting these answers from time to time is a good exercise.

Identify Your Priorities

Not everything we value holds the same amount of importance in our minds. Some values are more important than others. Finding your core, defining values isn’t always easy. However, you can focus on your priorities by creating your own list of values. Consider these examples of personal values when creating your list:

Achievement

Understanding

This isn’t an exhaustive list. Come up with values that align with your goals and are grounded in your experiences and personality.

Conduct A Values Audit

A values audit may sound like an intimidating concept, but it’s extremely helpful in understanding what you do or don’t consider important. To go about the process, create your values list, rank them by importance and reassess them from time to time. You may undergo changes in your personal or professional life and it’s helpful when you revisit and revise your values list. This exercise will also allow you to add new values and make them a part of your life moving forward. Once you feel confident about adopting a new value, it’s time to own it.

Identifying, prioritizing and pursuing values can help you get closer to defining what’s important to you. You can use these values to set goals and achieve the things you’ve always dreamt about. 

The path to self-improvement and growth is understanding where your priorities lie and what changes you want to make. If you want to take action and turn your life around, start by strengthening your self-knowledge. Harappa’s   Interpreting Self course is equipped with powerful frameworks that’ll help you foster self-awareness, identify strengths and progress towards professional goals and aspirations. The River of Life framework, in particular, will help you look back on life-shaping experiences. Join this self-knowledge course today to discover your best possible self!

Explore Harappa Diaries to learn more about topics related to the LEAD habit such as Ways To Practice  Self-Talk  For Success, What Do  Multiple Intelligences  Mean, What Is  Self-Criticism  & Why Is  Self-Motivation  Important to progress towards professional goals and aspirations.

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Discovering Personal Values Lesson for Elementary Students  

Teaching our children about their personal values is a valuable and important lesson. Learning about these core beliefs and principles can equip students with the knowledge to make wise choices for themselves. By exploring their values, kids gain greater insight into themselves, why they do what they do and how their decisions may affect themselves and those around them.

Let's go through a lesson you could do on personal values with a whole class, small group, or individual student.

Step By Step Personal Values Lesson

Define personal values.

First, start by defining what personal values are. How have students already seen these displayed by themselves and others?

Personal values are the core beliefs and principles that shape our daily lives. They encompass how we think, how we act, and what we ultimately care about. Personal values help us determine what is essential and decide based on those priorities. Personal values include kindness, honesty, respect, integrity, and fairness.

You could ask students to define what they think personal values are in their own words.

Discuss Influences on Our Personal Values

Various factors, such as our personalities, friends and family members, cultural beliefs, and experiences, shape our values. Our perspectives on life can be molded by the people we surround ourselves with, the books we read or movies we watch, and even the conversations that occur in our daily lives.

Culture also impacts how personal values develop; different cultures have different ideas about what is important to prioritize in life. Religious beliefs or political ideologies can also determine individual values. Ultimately, it’s up to each person to decide which influencing factors will shape their value system.

Have students draw themselves at the center of a paper or write their names. They can write down the different people, places, and circumstances influencing them.

Brainstorm Possible Values

When teaching students about personal values, provide a space for them to brainstorm and discuss what they know. For example, as a group, teachers can have their third-grade students explore current events or characters in books as sources of inspiration for understanding different values.

This can be done by looking at characters' actions in stories and asking questions such as “What value does this character demonstrate?” Or, when discussing current events, teachers can ask their class, “What value do you think is most important here?” 

Work with students to generate a list of values they have observed in others and themselves.

Use Personal Values Scenarios to Explore

Once you have identified various personal values, give them scenarios to predict their decision if they have a particular value. For example, if the class discusses honesty, you can provide a hypothetical situation such as, "You find a wallet with money in it."

Another option would be to give them a scenario and the decision someone made. They then have to decide what value guided that decision.

Circle - Star - Slash Personal Values Activity

Use the list of personal values that you brainstormed as a group. Give each student a copy of the list. Tell them to review the list and circle the values that are important to them. You can limit this to 7-10 values. Next, tell them to slash the values that aren't important to them. Lastly, they should look at the circled values and put a star next to the three values that are most important to them.

After identifying their three values, discuss how they influence their thoughts, feelings, actions, and decisions. Then, you can use the previous scenarios to discuss how their values impact decisions.

Personal Values Worksheets

Students will learn what values they find important and how their values affect how they act, think, and feel.

Personal values are an essential part of understanding and informing our decisions. Teaching children about personal values can help them become more self-aware and confident decision-makers. Through activities such as brainstorming possible values, exploring scenarios to demonstrate how those values influence us, and the Circle-Star-Slash activity to identify their most important three values, you can give students with a better sense of who they are and what matters most to them.

In This Post

Personal values lesson.

Five  no prep 15-minute SEL lessons you can use to teach students about their personal values - what is important to them. These print-and-go worksheets will help students learn what they value and how that affects how they feel and act. 

Daily SEL Lessons

This  bundle of 35 social emotional learning topics.  These simple daily worksheets introduce social emotional learning to the whole class, small groups, or individual students.

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