What are your personal values? Did you know that your personal core values drive your behavior, judgments, and decisions, even if you do not know what they are? Values are what you hold most near and dear to your heart. They are your beliefs about what is most important to you. The thoughts that you think and the words you speak are rooted in your own values.
You prioritize your time based on your values. The more aware that you become of your values, the better you will understand yourself and why you do what you do. Think of your values as a personalized compass pointing to what matters most.
It shines a light in the direction of the things you truly want for yourself, even if you choose against going in that direction. Understanding the importance of personal values is essential to your identity, guiding your behavior, and influencing life choices and actions. This self-awareness allows for living intentionally and more mindfulness in everyday life.
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What Are Personal Values?
Personal values are the principles, beliefs, and ideals that are deeply important and meaningful to you. They serve as a moral compass, guiding your thoughts and actions. They are the core of your identity, representing what you stand for and deem important in life. Your values influence how you perceive the world and the life you lead.
Values are also the foundation of the decisions you make and influence the life goals you set for yourself. For example, they drive people to fight for issues that they hold strong beliefs about, such as social justice and equality. They ignite your passions. Your values even influence the companies you choose to give your business to and your shopping preferences.
Various factors, including cultural background, family upbringing, education, past experiences, and societal influences shape personal values. These values can significantly impact how you prioritize your time, make choices, and interact with others.
Many types of values encompass a wide range of areas, including ethics, relationships, career, spirituality, personal growth, health, community involvement, and more. For example, someone may value honesty, respect, and kindness as important ethical values. In their relationships, they may prioritize loyalty, trust, and communication. In their career, they may value professionalism, innovation, and collaboration.
Common Types of Values
Personal values can vary from person to person, as individual experiences, beliefs, and priorities shape them. While there is no definitive list of personal values, here are some common types of values that people may hold:
- Integrity: Upholding honesty, trustworthiness, and moral principles in all aspects of life.
- Respect: Treating others with dignity, courtesy, and consideration.
- Responsibility: Taking ownership of one’s actions, obligations, and commitments.
- Compassion: Showing empathy, kindness, and understanding towards others.
- Perseverance: Demonstrating determination, resilience, and a strong work ethic.
- Growth: Pursuing personal development, continuous learning, and self-improvement.
- Balance: Striving for harmony and equilibrium in various areas of life, such as work-life balance or maintaining physical and mental well-being.
- Authenticity: Being true to oneself, embracing individuality, and living in alignment with personal beliefs.
- Empowerment: Encouraging and supporting others to reach their full potential.
- Generosity: Being generous with time, resources, and kindness towards others.
- Family: Prioritizing satisfying relationships, familial bonds, and supporting loved ones.
- Love: Valuing and nurturing loving connections with others.
- Adventure: Seeking new experiences, exploration, and embracing the unknown.
- Gratitude: Recognizing and appreciating the positive aspects of life and expressing gratitude.
- Justice: Upholding fairness, equality, and social justice.
- Independence: Valuing autonomy, self-reliance, and freedom of thought.
- Creativity: Embracing imagination, innovation, and expressing oneself artistically.
- Environmental Awareness: Demonstrating concern for the environment and sustainable practices.
- Spirituality: Emphasizing personal beliefs, connection to something greater than oneself, and inner peace.
- Leadership: Exhibiting qualities such as influence, guidance, and responsibility in inspiring and motivating others.
The Importance of Knowing Your Personal Values
The most important thing about knowing your personal values is that you can make decisions that are aligned with them. Understanding and living by your top values are crucial in leading a fulfilling and purposeful life. When you align your actions with your own personal values, you experience a sense of inner peace and satisfaction.
Your core personal values play a vital role in your daily life and the long-term goals that you set for yourself. It helps you make better life choices and fosters personal growth. Living in alignment with your values can lead to a more meaningful life.
You are more likely to decide in your best interest rather than compromise your beliefs to please others. Personal values give you direction and help you make decisions that align with your goals and aspirations. For instance, when a choice feels right, you feel positive feelings such as peace, joy, and happiness.
These feelings are good indicators that you are in alignment with your personal values. On the other hand, when a choice feels wrong, you feel negative feelings such as regret, guilt, and anxiety. For example, if someone offers you illegal drugs but you have lost someone to addiction, you will have some pretty strong feelings against taking any drugs.
Those negative feelings tell you that you are not aligned with your values. These feelings strongly indicate that you are out of alignment with what truly makes you happy. Considering your values first will allow you to choose calmly, confidently, and easily when making big decisions. Knowing your values will help you:
- Face difficult choices.
- Be more confident when you need to stand up for yourself.
- Make the right decision for yourself.
- Find your purpose in life.
- Live a more fulfilled life.
Personal values are subjective and differ from person to person. What you consider a core value may not hold the same importance for someone else. Therefore, it is essential for you to reflect on the importance of personal values, understand what truly matters to you, and live in alignment with those values. Identifying and clarifying personal values can provide you with a sense of purpose, direction, and authenticity. As a result, when you live in accordance with your values, you often experience a greater sense of fulfillment, satisfaction, and overall well-being.
Be a living expression of your values, Wear them, Speak them, Make decisions aligned with them.
anonymous
How to Identify Your Personal Values
Identifying your personal values is a crucial first step in understanding your identity and creating a more meaningful life. Here are some tips on how to identify your personal values:
Reflect on Your Life Experiences
A good starting point to identify your own personal values is reflecting on your life experiences and the new values that have emerged from different experiences. Think about times when you felt most fulfilled and satisfied, and try to identify what values were present in those moments.
For example, if you felt most fulfilled when volunteering, your values might include service, compassion, and community. Or maybe your life experiences may have instilled the value of hard work and perseverance, which you now consider an important element of your personal value system.
Consider What Motivates You
Another way to identify your personal values is to consider what motivates you because your motivations often stem from what you deeply care about and find important. Think about what inspires you to take action, and try to identify the underlying values behind those motivations.
Examining the “why” behind goals. When setting goals or pursuing certain achievements, reflect on why those goals are meaningful to you. Consider the underlying reasons and the values they represent. For example, striving for financial security may be driven by a value of stability, independence, or providing for loved ones.
Examine Your Role Models
Examining the values of role models or authority figures in your life provides clues about your personal values. Their values may have influenced your own and can serve as examples of personal values that resonate with you. Think about the people you admire and respect, and try to identify what qualities they possess that you find most appealing. For example, if you admire someone for their honesty and integrity, those values might also be essential to you.
Consider What You Stand For
Consider the issues that matter most to you and what values underlie those core beliefs. Think about how you react when you are presented with opportunities for recycling or choosing foods that are good and leave less of an imprint on the planet than others.
For example, if you are passionate about environmental awareness and contributing to a better world for future generations, your values might include stewardship, responsibility, and sustainability.
Or if one of your top values is social justice, you might actively seek opportunities to promote fairness and equality in your daily life, whether it’s through volunteering, advocating for change, or supporting organizations that share your specific values.
Ask What You Can’t Live Without
Asking yourself what you can’t live without can be a powerful question that helps you identify your personal values. What are the things in your life that are non-negotiable? What values underlie those things? As you reflect on this question, you start to identify certain things that are fundamental to your happiness, well-being, and sense of purpose.
For example, if you couldn’t live without your family, your values might include love, loyalty, and connection. If you say you cannot live without personal growth and learning experiences, your values include personal development, self-improvement, and continuous learning.
Examine Your Relationships
Identify the significant relationship values in your current relationships, including friendships, family life, and romantic partnerships, such as trust, respect, communication, or support. Ask yourself the following questions: Who do you spend your time with? What kind of person do you like to spend your time with? What types of people are in your social circles?
These relationships can offer insights into the different types of values that you prioritize in your personal life and the qualities you seek in your interactions with others. In addition, it is common to encounter individuals with different values in relationships. When there are contrasting values, it prompts you to reflect on and articulate your own values more clearly. Exploring the differences can deepen your understanding of what truly matters to you and what you stand for.
Explore Your Professional Life
Consider how organizational values at your present job align or differ from your own values in your work life. Consider the importance of professional values and how they align with your personal values. For example, if your company values include an emphasis on integrity and ethical conduct, this positively impacts its reputation and credibility in the industry.
You benefit from this positive reputation as an employee, as it reflects well on your professional image. Being associated with the organization enhances your credibility and opens doors to new opportunities in your career.
Why Do People Have Trouble Living By Their Values?
Despite knowing the importance of personal values, many people overlook them, and it is easy to see why. In today’s modern world, you are often caught up in the daily grind, struggling to keep up with the demands of your jobs, families, and social obligations. In specific situations, you may make a decision based on what is expected of you rather than what you truly believe. It can be challenging to take the time to reflect on your values and examine how they influence your choices.
Another common reason people overlook their values is the fear of being judged. You may be afraid to express your true self for fear of rejection or ridicule. This is commonly seen when giving in to peer pressure. You may worry about being seen as “different” or “weird” if your values don’t align with those around you. This fear of rejection can lead you to compromise your values and make decisions that are not in line with your beliefs.
Finally, some people may simply not know what their personal values are. They may have never taken the time to reflect on their beliefs or examine what is truly important to them. Making decisions that align with your goals and aspirations is easier with a clear understanding of your values.
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Personal Value Examples
Below are five scenarios to demonstrate the importance of knowing your personal values and how they influence and drive your feelings, behavior, and decision-making.
Family Value
Scenario 1: Your boss asks you to take on another obligation requiring you to work late. Staying late would mean you would miss your daughter’s recital or your son’s soccer game. You can feel your stress level increase just by hearing the request. You quickly decline the request without the associated feelings of guilt.
Even if some guilt does arise, you can acknowledge the feeling and remind yourself that you are making decisions that align with what matters most. However, you value spending time with your family the most, so setting boundaries at work and declining this request is much easier as it takes you away from the time you want to spend on your family instead.
Accountability Value
Scenario 2: You participate in a group project where each team member is assigned a portion of the work. You have a deadline to finish in four weeks. You always complete your work on time or even early because you value responsibility. However, one team member is often late, or sometimes other team members must step in and complete that person’s task. You can feel your blood boil every time it happens. This feeling arises because you value a high level of accountability.
When making a decision, big or small, choose in favor of your values. Your values will always point you to the life that holds the most meaning and happiness.
Rob Kaiser
Dependability & Responsibility Values
Scenario 3: When you say you will do something, everyone knows you will do it. You do not make excuses, and you never break a promise. If you cannot get it done, you arrange for someone to cover for you. You value dependability. Setting boundaries is probably easier for you. You value responsibility and accomplishments, so you protect your valuable time to meet your obligations.
You also expect this behavior from others. When you encounter the opposite, you can feel incongruent feelings arise. You cannot even understand how other people can be this way because it is foreign to you. This core personal value is rooted deeply in your being.
Fun & Friendship Values
Scenario 4: You will never miss an opportunity to host a celebratory event. Even though you have many other obligations, you will sacrifice sleep to be able to host the event. You spend hours looking at Pinterest for ideas and thoroughly enjoy doing this. It makes you happy and brings you joy. You even have hosted wedding receptions in your home.
You value your social life, fun, and friendship and will never miss a moment to nurture them. Hosting these events requires time and money, but your sacrifices are worth the reward. You enjoy the activity so much you could be an event planner in your spare time.
Trustworthiness Value
Scenario 5: Your fiance goes out with his friends on Friday night. You were expecting him home by 11 p.m., and it’s 2 a.m., and he is not home. Calls and texts go unanswered. You lose the rest of your night of sleep, angry and worried. He comes strolling in at 8 a.m. and tells you he drank too much and fell asleep at his friend’s house, and this is not the first time that this has happened.
His behavior is unacceptable since you value respect, honesty, and trustworthiness. His behavior goes against your values. Therefore, you feel disrespected because he stays out all night. Deep down, you question his trustworthiness because you cannot confirm his whereabouts.
Now that you understand the importance of knowing your personal values better, try this free online personal values test.
Summary: Importance of Personal Values
In conclusion, understanding the importance of personal values is the key to living a more fulfilling life. What would your world look like if you started mindfully making more choices based on your particular values? By identifying and understanding your own values, you can make better decisions, create stronger relationships, and navigate difficult situations with integrity. Also, the more you make decisions that align with your values and who you are, the more happiness and joy you will experience.
Furthermore, the more you invest in yourself and increase your self-awareness, the easier it will be to make decisions that honor and respect your beliefs and values. However, if you find you are making counterproductive decisions, be compassionate with yourself. Congratulate yourself for being able to see the truth, which is the first essential step. So, take the next step and discover your own personal values.
