Defining Your Values

Personal values, also known as core values, are ideas or convictions a person strongly believes. A personal
value is a worthwhile idea or behavior that guides short-term decisions and long-term goals. Personal values
may include integrity, compassion, stewardship, and authenticity. When you define your personal values, you
discover what's truly important to you for example if you value kindness, compassion you may be unhappy working in an
aggressive work environment. 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.

Your values are the things that you believe are important in the way you live and work. 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.
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.
Common Personal Values
Personal Values List
1. Knowledge:To pursue and learn about new things and ideas; to search for truth, or information; to be known by others as an intelligent person and to feel
intelligent.

2. Wisdom:To understand and frame for myself a meaning of life, perceiving experience from a broad frame of reference.
3. Power:To lead and direct others, to influence or control others, that is to get them to do what I want them to do.
4. Aesthetic Pleasure: To enjoy and respect the things from which I derive pleasure-art, nature, work people.
5. Ethical standards: To believe in and maintain a code of ethics, a sense of right and wrong; to be moral; to conform to the standards of society, my family
or spouse, my profession, and my personal beliefs.

6. Independence: To achieve my own goals in the manner best suited to me to have freedom to come and go as I wish; to be myself at all times, to control
my own actions.

7. Accomplishment: To achieve my personal objectives with a sense that I've done something as well as, if not better than, someone else would have; to
experience self-satisfaction when I rise to a challenge, accomplish a task or a job, or solve a problem.

8. Recognition:To receive attention, notice, approval, or respect from others, enjoying their camaraderie; to join groups for companionship; to look forward
to and enjoy social relations

9. Courage:To be entrepreneurial and thus take risks, reach beyond boundaries, and experiment.
10. Responsibility: To be held accountable to others or to organisations to which I belong for a job or task, to process something and care for it.
11. Creativity: To be free to and have the ability and desire to develop new ideas, solutions to problems, improvements in products or procedures, or designs of
things or plans; to be mentally challenged; to be first to innovate or create.

12. Security: To possess the basic wherewithal for living; to feel safe; to have self-confidence; to have job security and continuity of income.
13. Dedication: To be loyal to a company or to a supervisor, my family, social and political groups, and others, to give devotion, commitment, or friendship to
others.

14. Justice and parity: To receive rewards and recognition for my contributions and achievements in proportion to my efforts and comparable to those
received by other people.

15. Growth: To advance, to expand my life through the improvement of my status at work or in the community; to increase my work-and non work-related
knowledge or skill; to find fulfilment in the groups in which I work and live; to mature personally and professionally.

16. Integrity: To be consistently open, honest, ethical and genuine

17. Religiousness: To believe in a supreme being; to relate my belief to other people and let it guide my actions; to lead others in line with the teachings of
my faith.

18. Love: To experience warmth, feelings of affection, a sense of caring, enthusiasm for, attachment to, devotion to, and interest in something or in another
person, especially someone to whom I can make a commitment.

19. Challenge: To feel good about what I do, its degree of difficulty, and the complexity or demands on my creativity; to have opportunities to apply my
knowledge and skills effectively and easily.

20. Faith:To have self-confidence and to believe in my abilities and skills, in the goodness and value of life, and in the goals and objectives of my company or
social organisations; to feel secure in the availability of help from others and to recognise help received.
21. Passion To use my drive and commitment to energize, engage and inspire others.
22. Health (physical/mental): To feel energetic and free of physical pain from injury, disease, or infection; to feel free from worry and anxiety and of
emotional blocks to success in all aspects of my life; to have peace of mind.

23. Money: To have sufficient income or other assets to use as I wish, to be materially comfortable or well off.
24. Good time/pleasure: To have fun, to enjoy myself; to do things I like to do rather than only things I have to do.
25. Being loved: To experience warmth, feelings of affection, and a sense of caring from other people, especially from someone from whom I can expect a
commitment.

26. Helpfulness: To provide assistance, support, empathy, or protection to others; to be open responsive, and generous.
27. Friendship: To have many friends, to work with others enjoying their camaraderie; to join groups for companionship; to look forward to and enjoy social
relations.

28. Self-Esteem:To be someone of value in my own eyes and in the eyes of others; to be accepted as a person rather than as a non-entity or as a means to an
end; to feel useful and wanted by other people; to be a leader; to be appreciated by others.

Accountability Excellence Perfection

Accuracy Excitement Piety

Achievement Expertise Positivity

Adventurousness Exploration Practicality

Altruism Expressiveness Preparedness

Ambition Fairness Professionalism

Assertiveness Faith Prudence

Balance Family-orientedness Quality-orientation

Being the best Fidelity Reliability

Belonging Fitness Resourcefulness

Boldness Fluency Restraint

Calmness Focus Results-oriented

Carefulness Freedom Rigor

Challenge Fun Security

Cheerfulness Generosity Self-actualization

Clear-mindedness Goodness Self-control

Commitment Grace Selflessness

Community Growth Self-reliance

Compassion Happiness Sensitivity

Competitiveness Hard work Serenity

Consistency Health Service

Contentment Helping society Shrewdness

Continuous Holiness Simplicity

Improvement Honesty Soundness

Contribution Honor Speed

Control Humility Spontaneity

Cooperation Independence Stability

Correctness Ingenuity Strategic

Courtesy Inner harmony Strength

Creativity Inquisitiveness Structure

Curiosity Insightfulness Success

Decisiveness Intelligence Support

Democraticness Intellectual status Teamwork

Dependability Intuition Temperance

Determination Joy Thankfulness

Devoutness Justice Thoroughness

Diligence Leadership Thoughtfulness

Discipline Legacy Timeliness

Discretion Love Tolerance

Diversity Loyalty Traditionalism

Dynamism Making a difference Trustworthiness

Economy Mastery Truth-seeking

Effectiveness Merit Understanding

Efficiency Obedience Uniqueness

Elegance Openness Unity

Empathy Order Usefulness

Enjoyment Originality Vision Vitality

Enthusiasm Patriotism

Equality

Identification of your values

Just select 10 of your top values from the above by using the criteria below. Once you have chosen 10, then rate each
value on the scale of 1-10. This will give you, your highest value.

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.)

Number one being least important and number 10 most important.