How to determine your values?

Your values are what you believe matter most in life. We all have a value system. It can change a bit during the course of our life but it remains our strongest internal compass to get through each day. Your values are at the center of each decision you take (Yes, that feeling sometimes when a decision feels bad, it’s because it’s not aligned with your value system).

So, how can you determine which set of values best fits you?

Important! Don’t even think about judging yourself. None of those values are either good or bad, better or worse than others. They are what they are and we are what we are. 

Looking at the list below, do a first selection of all the list that matter to you. There is not a concrete definition of each, it about what they mean to you. Go at it and don’t be afraid to tick! Note that this list is not exhaustive, feel free to add values if you want.
Now let go a step further and try to eliminate, sort, group this first selection to obtain a good top 10 values. For instance, if like me you selected FAMILY, FRIENDS and RELATIONSHIPS, you can keep only RELATIONSHIPS knowing that for you it includes Family and Friends too. (Remember, you can create your own definition of a value)
This is where it gets more difficult. I now want you to select your top 5 list of values. Make sure to order it from the most important to the less. I know it not necessarily straightforward so here are some additional tips :
  • Go back to moments of struggles in your life and ask yourself :
    • What was upsetting about that situation?
    • How did it get out of it?
    • What would have happened if I had done things differently or taken a different decision?
  • Think about the last time you had to make an important decision and it felt so good. Which of your values were you aligning with?
  • And the other way around. Think about the last time you had to make a decision and it somehow felt wrong. With which value(s) of yours do you think you were misaligned?
Note : if while at it you identified values that are completely the opposite of what’s important to you, feel free to create an “anti-value” list.

Accountability

Achievement

Advancement

Affection

Authenticity

Autonomy

Balance

Beauty

Caring

Challenge

Change

Collaboration

Communication

Community

Compassion

Competence

Competition

Connectedness

Consensus

Conviction

Cooperation

Courage

Courtesy

Creativity

Curiosity

Dedication

Empathy

Empowerment

Enlightenment

Enterprise

Entrepreneurship

Environment

Equality

Ethics

Excellence

Excitement

Enterprise

Fairness

Faith

Fame

Family

Flexibility

Forgiveness

Freedom

Friendship

Fulfilment

Fun

Goodness

Gratitude

Greatness

Growth

Happiness

Harmony

Healing

Honesty

Innovation

Integrity

Involvement

Joy

Justice

Kindness

Knowledge

Leadership

Learning

Love

Loyalty

Mastery

Meaning

Mercy

Merit

Money

Nature

Openness

Order

Partnership

Passion

Patience

Peace

Perfection

Perseverance

Personal development

Quality

Recognition

Relationships

Respect

Responsibility

Responsiveness

Risk-taking

Safety

Sanctuary

Security

Self-esteem

Serenity

Service

Sharing

Simplicity

Spirituality

Stability

Status

Stewardship

Strength

Success

Teamwork

Tradition

Trust

Truth

Understanding

Uniqueness

Variety