You find yourself engrossed in a crucial conversation with your manager about an impending client deadline. Together, you’re on the verge of a breakthrough while brainstorming a fresh strategy.
Suddenly, a colleague interrupts, seeking a quick solution to a problem. They dive right into their question before you can respond, and your brilliant idea slips away.
You can’t help but wonder, “Why couldn’t they have waited until I was available?” Your values, which prioritize patience and self-control, conflict with your colleague’s more spontaneous approach.
Every day, your values guide your judgments and influence your perception of right and wrong. They shape your thoughts, actions, and emotions, playing a pivotal role in helping you find happiness and purpose in life. Your career choices, personal relationships, and lifestyle are all intricately connected to your values.
While many Americans place high value on maintaining happy relationships, leading an honest and respectable life, and practicing safety, your values might differ – and that’s perfectly acceptable.
Understanding your own values is a crucial aspect of self-awareness and self-discovery. A deeper understanding of your values can enhance your empathy, emotional regulation, and communication skills.
However, identifying your values is no easy task, requiring introspection and self-honesty, which can be challenging in the hustle and bustle of daily life.
Let’s explore some examples of personal values to help you reflect on what truly matters to you.
Understanding Your Values:
Core Principles of Identifying Personal Values
Before delving into examples, it’s essential to establish some fundamental principles in this process. Understanding how values work can significantly aid your personal development.
What Are Personal Core Values?
Personal values are a set of beliefs that distinguish between “good” and “bad” in your community, culture, or society. They form a mindset that defines the ideal standards of behavior, such as patience and honesty.
Chances are you already have guiding principles that influence your decision-making, leadership style, and overall disposition, whether in your personal life or the workplace. It’s your responsibility to identify and articulate these values.
What’s a Personal Values System?
Your personal values system comprises all of your personal values, collectively shaping how you interact with the world around you. For instance, transparency, self-discipline, and trustworthiness might be core values that constitute your personal values system. When confronted with challenging conversations or projects, these values guide your choices, and you may expect the same values from those around you.
How Are Personal Values Formed?
You likely absorbed your values from your upbringing. As a child, you observed and internalized the behaviors of those around you, including parents, siblings, teachers, friends, and the broader community. Additionally, religion, cultural expectations, and spirituality played a role in shaping your values. As you mature, you decide which values to keep and which to discard to lead a more fulfilling life.
Why Are Core Personal Values Important?
While common core values are crucial for social cohesion, they can also give rise to conflicts and discrimination. Research has shown that people from culturally diverse backgrounds can be identified by their values with remarkable accuracy, underscoring the potential for misunderstandings. Effective communication and setting boundaries are essential to bridge these differences.
Are Personal Values Permanent?
Your core values may remain relatively stable, but they can evolve as you learn and grow. This is why it’s vital to understand your personal values system and periodically reassess it. Some values that once seemed important may no longer serve you, necessitating a reevaluation and, if necessary, an adjustment of your values.
20 Core Value Examples
Here is a list of core values that might inspire you as you reflect on your own:
- Altruism
- Dependability
- Integrity
- Generosity
- Courage
- Gratitude
- Well-being
- Sustainability
- Family
- Self-respect
- Adaptability
- Uniqueness
- Assertiveness
- Support
- Open-mindedness
- Personal growth
- Flexibility
- Frugality
- Improvement
- Self-reliance
These values can significantly influence your behavior and decision-making. For example, if humility is a core value, you’ll likely be more modest about your skills, regardless of your actual talent. If frugality is essential to you, you’ll be more conscientious about your spending compared to someone with different values. Remember, there’s no one-size-fits-all; individuality is what makes values unique.
6 Tips for Defining Your Core Values
Here are six ways to start identifying your values:
- Reflect on Meaningful Moments: Consider what made significant moments in your life meaningful. Connect the dots to reveal your core values.
- Reflect on Unsatisfying Moments: Think about moments in your life when you felt least satisfied. These experiences can also reveal your values.
- Pay Attention to Inspiring Stories: Take note of stories that inspire you and the behaviors of individuals you admire. This can provide insight into your values.
- Identify What Makes You Angry: Your values can be revealed by what irritates you. Recognize when your values are contradicted.
- Imagine Your Ideal Environment: Think about your ideal workplace or community. Your choices in this scenario can reflect your values.
- Review Your Proud Accomplishments: Reflect on your proudest achievements and consider what they say about your values.
Living by Your Values
Understanding your values is a crucial step, but it’s essential to put them into action. Here’s how you can live in alignment with your values:
- Create a List of Priority Values: Determine which values are most important to you, as not all values are equal. Consider what you would choose when faced with conflicting values.
- Use Your Values to Set Goals: Let your values inform your long-term goals and plans. Ask yourself what changes you need to make to live in accordance with your values.
- Allow for Exceptions: Values are ideals, but they may need to be compromised in certain situations. Recognize when flexibility is necessary.
- Strengthen Your Values with Good Habits: Develop daily habits that reinforce your values, such as journaling, regular manifestation, or keeping your values visible in your living space.
- Practice Inner Work®️: This involves self-reflection and making daily changes to live by your values, while also recognizing when some values no longer serve you.
Moving Forward
Understanding your values can help you navigate your life and interactions with others. It clarifies why differences in values can be frustrating and offers insight into your own values.
Living by your values not only eases your life but also enhances your emotional well-being. It unlocks your potential and empowers you to live authentically.
So, the next time someone interrupts you or behaves against your values, you’ll have a better grasp of why it affects you. Exploring common personal value examples can help you connect with like-minded individuals and lead a more fulfilling life, true to your values.
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