What are core values?
Core values are the few principles you most want your choices to reflect, like honesty, family, health or freedom. They are not goals you finish. You never complete "kindness", but you can act on it today, and when two good options clash, your values tell you which one to pick.
Below is a core values list of 200 values in 12 groups, a five-step way to find your own, examples of personal, work and company values, and a way to turn each value into a small daily habit. To do the exercise on screen, use the free core values finder: tap the values that feel like you, narrow to 10, rank your top 5 and print the result.
Core values list: 200 values by group
Read the list once, quickly, and note every value that makes you think "yes, that is me." Most people end up with 15 to 30. The values finder shows a short meaning for each one and has a printable version of this whole list.
Integrity and character
Honesty, Integrity, Responsibility, Accountability, Fairness, Loyalty, Respect, Humility, Trustworthiness, Reliability, Authenticity, Transparency, Justice, Dignity, Modesty, Commitment, Consistency.
Relationships and belonging
Family, Friendship, Love, Connection, Belonging, Community, Partnership, Intimacy, Trust, Acceptance, Forgiveness, Empathy, Communication, Cooperation, Parenting, Hospitality, Teamwork.
Growth and learning
Growth, Learning, Curiosity, Wisdom, Knowledge, Self-improvement, Education, Open-mindedness, Reflection, Self-awareness, Mastery, Competence, Excellence, Insight, Discipline, Patience, Perseverance.
Achievement and work
Achievement, Ambition, Success, Hard work, Productivity, Leadership, Influence, Recognition, Wealth, Financial security, Initiative, Professionalism, Efficiency, Focus, Craftsmanship, Competition, Diligence.
Freedom and independence
Freedom, Independence, Autonomy, Self-reliance, Flexibility, Choice, Privacy, Simplicity, Minimalism, Time freedom, Individuality, Self-expression, Spontaneity, Travel, Self-respect, Boundaries.
Creativity and play
Creativity, Imagination, Beauty, Fun, Humor, Play, Innovation, Originality, Art, Music, Joy, Enthusiasm, Pleasure, Wonder, Design, Storytelling, Playfulness.
Health and energy
Health, Fitness, Energy, Vitality, Rest, Balance, Self-care, Nutrition, Strength, Sleep, Movement, Mental health, Longevity, Sobriety, Nature, Resilience.
Calm and presence
Peace, Calm, Mindfulness, Presence, Serenity, Self-compassion, Gratitude, Contentment, Harmony, Stillness, Slowness, Self-acceptance, Optimism, Hope, Equanimity, Happiness.
Security and order
Security, Stability, Safety, Order, Organization, Preparedness, Tradition, Structure, Punctuality, Thrift, Caution, Cleanliness, Home, Planning, Routine, Moderation, Stewardship.
Courage and adventure
Courage, Adventure, Bravery, Boldness, Challenge, Risk-taking, Exploration, Confidence, Excitement, Determination, Resourcefulness, Change, Assertiveness, Adaptability, Openness, Discovery, Daring.
Kindness and service
Kindness, Compassion, Generosity, Service, Helpfulness, Charity, Contribution, Care, Warmth, Encouragement, Mentorship, Equality, Inclusion, Tolerance, Citizenship, Environmentalism, Appreciation.
Meaning and spirit
Purpose, Faith, Spirituality, Meaning, Legacy, Heritage, Ethics, Mission, Devotion, Grace, Reverence, Transcendence, Truth, Virtue, Awe, Sustainability.
How do you find your core values?
- Collect. Go through the list above and keep every value that feels true, not every value that sounds good. Aim for 15 to 30.
- Group and cut to 10. Many kept values overlap, such as honesty, integrity and transparency. Keep the word that fits you best in each cluster until 10 are left.
- Rank your top 5. Compare pairs: "If I could only honor one of these this month, which would it be?" The ones that keep winning are your core values.
- Test them against real decisions. Think of a choice you are proud of and one you regret. Did your top 5 show up in the first and get ignored in the second? If not, a value may be missing.
- Write what each looks like on a normal day. "Family" becomes "eat one meal together without screens." This step turns a word into something you can do today.
Two questions help when you are stuck. Who do you admire, and which three words describe them? And when were you angry about something unfair? Anger often points at a value that was stepped on.
Personal values vs work values vs company values
The same word can mean different things in different settings. Personal values guide your own life. Work values describe what you need from a job. Company values describe how an organization wants its people to behave.
| Type |
What it answers |
Examples |
| Personal values |
What kind of person do I want to be? |
Family, honesty, health, faith, curiosity, freedom |
| Work values |
What do I need from my work? |
Autonomy, growth, recognition, balance, financial security, teamwork |
| Company values |
How do we work together here? |
Integrity, customer focus, accountability, innovation, respect, inclusion |
Examples of core values in real life
- A nurse might pick compassion, competence, family, calm and faith.
- A founder might pick freedom, creativity, integrity, growth and hard work.
- A student might pick learning, friendship, health, curiosity and fairness.
- A parent returning to work might pick family, balance, financial security, respect and humor.
None of these lists is better than another. What matters is that the person can use theirs to make a choice on a busy Tuesday.
A worked example: from 26 values to a top 5
Maya, 34, kept 26 values from the list. Several overlapped: honesty, integrity and authenticity; health, fitness and energy; learning, curiosity and growth. She kept one word from each cluster and cut the rest until she had 10: family, health, honesty, curiosity, calm, friendship, freedom, creativity, financial security and kindness.
For her top 5, she compared pairs. Family beat freedom. Health beat creativity for now, because she had been sleeping badly. Her final ranking was family, health, honesty, curiosity and calm. Then she wrote one line per value:
| Value |
On a normal day this looks like |
| Family |
Dinner together, phones in the drawer |
| Health |
In bed by 10:45 on weeknights |
| Honesty |
Say no the first time instead of cancelling later |
| Curiosity |
Twenty minutes of reading after dinner |
| Calm |
Three slow breaths before answering a tense email |
She put the sheet on the fridge and picked one line, the bedtime, to track for a month.
How do you use core values to make a decision?
Hard choices are often hard because two of your values pull in different directions: a job that pays more (financial security) but keeps you away from home (family). Your ranking helps here. Write the options side by side and score how well each serves each of your top 5 values, from 0 to 2. Read the top rows first, because they matter most.
| Value (rank) |
New job, longer commute |
Stay, ask for a raise |
| Family (1) |
0 |
2 |
| Health (2) |
1 |
2 |
| Honesty (3) |
2 |
2 |
| Curiosity (4) |
2 |
1 |
| Calm (5) |
1 |
1 |
The numbers are not a formula. They make the trade-off visible, so you decide on purpose and can explain your choice in one sentence. If the answer on paper feels wrong, that is useful too: a value may be missing from your top 5, or the order may need to change.
How do core values turn into daily habits?
A value is easier to live when it has a small, repeatable action and a clear moment in your day. Take your top value, write one action that shows it, and attach it to something you already do: "After I get home, I put my phone in the drawer until the kids are in bed."
Deciding in advance when and where you will act is a well-studied way to follow through. The research summary on planning and if-then plans explains why. Then track the action with a 30-day habit tracker, or turn a bigger aim into a SMART goal. If you would rather have the steps laid out for you, the 30-day habit building plan gives you one small step a day, and you can build your own plan around the value you picked.
Some pairs work especially well:
- Health → a 10-minute walk after lunch.
- Gratitude → three good things each night, or a 30-day gratitude challenge.
- Learning → ten pages a day.
- Family → one screen-free meal.
- Calm → two minutes of quiet before you open email.
Common mistakes when choosing core values
- Picking what sounds impressive. "Excellence" and "leadership" look good on paper. If they do not guide your real choices, they are not your core values.
- Keeping too many. Twelve values cannot all come first. Five is enough to cover different parts of life and still remember.
- Confusing values with goals. "Buy a house" is a goal. The value behind it may be security, family or freedom.
- Never testing them. Values that never meet a real decision stay decoration. Use them the next time you have to say yes or no.
- Treating them as permanent. Priorities change with a new job, a child or an illness. Redo the exercise once a year.
What does research say about values?
Psychologists have studied values for decades. One widely used model describes ten broad types, such as security, tradition, benevolence, achievement and self-direction, and finds that people across many countries rank them in different orders (Schwartz, 2012). A personal list like the one above is more detailed, but it maps onto the same idea: everyone values many things, and what differs is the order.
Values work also shows up in therapy. In acceptance and commitment therapy, clarifying values as chosen life directions, and then taking small committed actions toward them, is one of six core processes (Hayes et al., 2006). That matches the last step of the exercise: a value needs an action.
A separate line of research looks at "values affirmation," where people write briefly about a value that matters to them. Reviews report that this can lower defensiveness in stressful or threatening situations, though effects depend on timing and context and do not appear in every study (Cohen & Sherman, 2014). A meta-analysis of 144 experimental tests found a small positive effect of self-affirmation on later health behavior (Epton et al., 2015). Treat these as modest, not magic: writing your values down will not change your life on its own, but acting on them in small ways can help.
If you are working through a hard time, this exercise is not a substitute for support from a counselor or doctor.
Where to go next
Write your values down, pick one daily action and try it for a month. For more reflection, try the journal prompts for self-discovery, find words for your year with the vision board words list, or browse the habit building topic for guides on making small actions stick.
