What exactly are life values?
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, values are ‘principles or standards of behavior; one’s judgment of what is important in life.’
Values represent what is important to us, in our lives so that we can feel happy, at peace, and fulfilled.
Values are beliefs that guide or motivate our attitudes or actions even though we might not always be aware of how exactly.
You can think of values as our personal map or GPS that helps us navigate through life in a way that we experience growth, development, and happiness.
There are more than 100 life values, categorized in different ways, according to various criteria.
Below you can find a list of 116 values alphabetically organized.
| Accountability | Efficiency | Intuition | Risk -taking |
| Achievement | Equality | Job security | Safety |
| Adaptability | Ethics | Joy | Security |
| Adventure | Excellence | Justice | Self-discipline |
| Altruism | Fairness | Kindness | Self-expression |
| Ambition | Faith | Knowledge | Self-respect |
| Authenticity | Family | Leadership Learning | Serenity |
| Balance | Financial stability | Legacy | Service |
| Beauty | Forgiveness | Leisure | Simplicity |
| Being the best | Freedom | Love | Spirituality |
| Belonging | Friendship | Loyalty | Sportsmanship |
| Career | Fun | Making a difference | Stewardship |
| Caring | Future generations | Nature | Success |
| Collaboration | Generosity | Openness | Teamwork |
| Commitment | Giving back | Optimism | Thrift |
| Community | Grace | Order | Time |
| Compassion | Gratitude | Parenting | Tradition |
| Competence | Growth | Patience | Travel |
| Confidence | Harmony | Patriotism | Trust |
| Connection | Health | Peace | Truth |
| Contentment | Home | Perseverance | Understanding |
| Contribution | Honesty | Personal fulfillment | Uniqueness |
| Cooperation | Hope | Power | Usefulness |
| Courage | Humility | Pride | Vision |
| Creativity | Humor | Recognition | Vulnerability |
| Curiosity | Inclusion | Reliability | Wealth |
| Dignity | Independence | Resourcefulness | Well-being |
| Diversity | Initiative | Respect | Wholeheartedness |
| Environment | Integrity | Responsibility | Wisdom |
Is it important to know our values?
Knowing our values helps us grow and develop as we have healthy points of reference/ standards or ideals to use for evaluating our actions or results.
The way in which we:
– act
– make choices
– evaluate something
– take a decision
– work
is based on what we value (even though we might not always be aware of it).
Our values are what get us started and what keeps us going on when we face resistance when we stumble or fall. They are a great stimulator to start and a great reminder to keep trying.
Clarity of values is one of our best tools to help us build and live the life we want.
Core values are the root beliefs that guide our behavior.
By knowing our own core values we increase our chances to live the life we want, to live in harmony we what we value and appreciate.c
When you know your core values it becomes easier to stick with the right routines and to implement the healthy habits to help us build the life we desire.
Do you know your core values?
You can find online lists including up to 500 values. This high number can confuse you and reduce the efficiency with which you use these values as guidance for your decisions/choices /actions.
It can be overwhelming to guide your main actions according to hundreds of values determined and promoted by society, culture, tradition, social media, family, friends.
It is of great help to IDENTIFY JUST 2 values that are MOST important to YOU.
I know, when checking the value list you are tempted to select somewhere between ten and fifteen. But the shortest your list the more clarity it brings to your life decisions and actions. As a stage to help you select just the two values most important to you, circle those ten to fifteen values you feel attracted to and gradually reduce them to two. Remember, the shorter your list the better you can focus on it and use it as an efficient tool to grow and develop yourself.
Once you have reduced your list to just 2 values you will notice that these 2 values are a central theme for the other ten to fifteen values you circled on the list.
For example, my 2 core values are COMMITMENT and GROWTH.
COMMITMENT functions as central value for :
- Family,
- Love
- Home
- Health
- Friendship
- Community
I am COMMITTED to all the above six mentioned values.
And GROWTH functions as central value for:
- Learning
- Courage
- Career
- Order
- Freedom
- Ethics
- Loyalty
- Recognition
The above mentioned eight values describe the way I perceive, value, and appreciate GROWTH. These 8 values are included in my definition of GROWTH and I take all of them into considerations in my personal and professional growth process.
To make sure that your core values are really YOURS, what YOU deeply value and appreciate take some time to dive deep into yourself.
Avoid selecting your values from a list without giving your core value discovery process the time and focus needed.
To find YOUR OWN core values try a brainstorming activity first.
Grab a pen and paper.
Take a deep breath.
Think:
What MUST be in your life so that you can experience fulfillment?
What do you care the most about?
What drives you?
What guides you?
Write down your answers.
Now you can use the 116 value list provided above in this blog post.
Have a look at all the values listed. Try to identify the ones that you most resonate with and identify with. If they are not on this list feel free to add them.
Avoid selecting values that have been instilled into your mind by your parents, mentors, etc and you don’t feel that strong fort hem (for those values).
To filter the values ‘noise’ and identify the ones that are really important to you, ask yourself:
Does this define me?
Is this who I am at my best?
Is this a filter that I can use to make hard decisions?
Write down TWO values that are most important in your life (you can circle around fifteen that you feel you identify with but gradually reduce your list to just two values).
Do you live according to your values?
To be able to live the life we want it’s not enough just to know our values. We need to make sure that we live up to our values, that we ‘practice what we preach’.
We need to take care that our intentions, words, thoughts, and behaviors align with our core values.
Our values don’t change according to life situations or people around us.
When there is a clash between our values and the values of the company we work for, our community our friends of family members, know that this is a challenge, testing if you live according to your values.
It is in these challenging situations that our core values are helping us choose what’s right for us. They act as the guiding light through our dark times.
To see if we live up to our values we need to identify:
*Three behaviors that support our values
*Three ‘slippery’ behaviors – actions we find ourselves tempted to do even though they are counter to our values
* An example of a time when we were fully living into our values
*What we spend your time and money on
*Who is someone who knows our values and supports our efforts to live into them?
*What support from this person looks like
Three behaviors that support my COMMITMENT value
- I give my time and energy to what I am committed to (family, home, learning, health …)
- I keep trying and looking for solutions to make things work even when it gets harder
- I keep my promises (do anything it is in my power to keep them)
Three ‘slippery’ behaviors that sabotage my COMMITMENT value
- Tend to procrastinate, (waste my time and energy on social media when tired instead of practicing healthy resting and relaxing activities)
- Overthinking and losing myself in too many details (efficiency and finding solutions affected)
- Saying YES to too many things, not setting clear boundaries, and ending up being forced to cancel/postpone some of them, ending up feeling guilty and resentful for doing so.
Three behaviors that support my GROWTH value
- I study every day (read, write, research) (I grow myself into a more skillful and resourceful professional)
- I exercise, eat healthy most of the time (I grow myself into a healthier person)
- I meditate and practice journaling (I grow myself into a kinder and wiser person
Three ‘slippery’ behaviors that sabotage my GROWTH value
- Tend to procrastinate, (waste my time and energy on social media)
- Comfort eating especially when I don’t get enough sleep or rest.
- Making excuses instead of analyzing my fears and moving forward.
An example of a time when I was fully living into my COMMITMENT value:
*The summers of 2019 and 2020 when I practiced the 5:00 am routine for more than 60 days (minimum 3 days/week, sometimes up to 6 days/week)
An example of a time when I was fully living into my GROWTH value:
*When studying for all my exams (highschool, university, teaching career, and now for the coaching career)
I spend my time money on the things
I am COMMITTED to (my family, my home, and my GROWTH).
Someone who knows my values and supports my efforts to live into them is my husband, the support from my husband is moral and financial.
For a deeper dive into Values and Principles, I warmly recommend:
Do you know what you need to do in order to get what you want?
For a detailed step-by-step process to help you discover your own values GET the FREE Guide from BELOW.
Did you know that
being aware of your Life Values helps
you Grow and Develop?
Do you know your
Life Values?
I have prepared for you
a FREE Guide to help YOU
find your Life Values and
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