Values are actions that show the people in our communities and our lives what we find most valuable. They simply show what kind of individuals we are to other people.
When an individual knows his or her core values and lives by them, it has been shown in a wide variety of studies to help mental and physical health in a positive way.
Knowing and writing about important values has been shown to decrease stress, which leads to better brain health. It also bolsters the ability to solve problems, inspires willpower, increases the ability to communicate more compassionately, and enhances relationships with other people.
When was the last time you worked on your personal set of values?
Values Exercise:
You will continue journaling with the exercise below as you spend time evaluating your personal values.
1. Write down your values.
Make a list of all the values that speak to you from the list below. Choose the values that best capture your emotions or actions. When choosing terms that you ascribe to, consider all aspects of your life may include your health, personal relationships, home, career/work, and spirituality/religion. Feel free to add any words that apply to you.
Abundance
Academics
Acceptance
Accountability
Achievement
Adventure
Ambition
Authenticity
Belonging
Career
Caregiving
Caring
Charity
Collaboration
Compassion
Confidence
Connection
Contentment
Courage
Creativity
Curiosity
Dependability
Diversity
Empathy
Encouragement
Enthusiasm
Ethics
Excellence
Family
Fairness
Flexibility
Freedom
Friendship
Fun
Generosity
Gratitude
Growth
Happiness
Harmony
Health
Honesty
Humor
Inclusivity
Individuality
Innovation
Intelligence
Integrity
Intuition
Joy
Justice
Kindness
Knowledge
Leadership
Learning
Leisure
Love
Loyalty
Making a difference
Motivation
Nature
Optimism
Open-mindedness
Order
Passion
Patience
Perfection
Performance
Personal development
Popularity
Power
Professionalism
Punctuality
Reciprocity
Recognition
Relationships
Reliability
Resilience
Resourcefulness
Respect
Responsibility
Risk-taking
Safety
Security
Self-control
Self-Respect
Selflessness
Service
Sharing
Simplicity
Spirituality
Stability
Success
Thankfulness
Tolerance
Traditionalism
Travel
Trust
Understanding
Wealth
Well-being
Wisdom
2. Observe yourself.
For two to three days, pay attention to your decisions at work and home. Write down your major choices and consciously label the values based on the list above. Were you expressing the values that initially resonated with you at the start of this exercise? If not, which ones were you adhering to? Were you happy with the choices you made?
3. Consider role models.
Write down the names of at least five people you admire, respect, or love. Write down the qualities they have that you find commendable. Would you want to mirror those qualities?
4. Think about your life experiences.
Choose one of the best and most fulfilling experiences in your life, as well as one of the most painful experiences in your life. Write a few sentences about those times in your life and list the values that were being expressed.
5. Imagine your perfect future.
Visualize your ideal existence and your desired future self. Make a list of what you would like to experience in your ideal life. Write down the values that are central to this vision.
6. Categorize your values.
Group the values into categories as part of this exercise. For example, you may have chosen professionalism, punctuality, and reliability. These are all related and can be placed in the same category. Or you may have chosen fun, humor, and optimism. These could also be placed in the same category.
7. Determine the main idea of your values.
Select a term that best embodies the collection of words found in each category. To provide more context for the principal value, leave the other words in the group indented below the primary value.
8. Select your top core values.
Sort the most important values by priority. While there is no set number of fundamental values, it’s best to keep the list between five and eight. If you have more than eight, consider the values that are most important to you and put this task on hold for a day or two, then revisit it later to determine whether the top core values accurately represent who you are.
