Centering Your Core Values
The qualities we wish to align our lifestyle with can have a great influence on our well-being as people. A person who cares a lot about their physical appearance may feel less like themselves during a period of time when they spend less time on their personal hygiene. A person who loves nature may feel out of touch with themself after spending a long period indoors. Whatever your core values are, the actions and behaviors you exhibit can complement or negate those values. Leaning into your core values can help you remain in touch with yourself and build resilience towards fatigue and distress in difficult life periods.
Start by identifying your core values. The list we have provided below is not all-encompassing, but it can give you a place to start in thinking about what is important to you. There is no set number you must stick to, but I recommend picking 5-8 that align with you the most:
Adventure-I want to do exciting and new things
Beauty-I want to be beautiful and see beautiful things Cautious-I want to be careful in the way I act and treat others
Determined-I want to be persistent even in times of difficulty
Education-I want to gain knowledge and learn from others
Family-I want to be family oriented
Gratitude-I want to be appreciative of my life
Humor-I want to surround myself with laughter and comedy
Innovation-I want to work towards new solutions to complex problems
Justice-I want to help others and make the world more fair
Kindness-I want to make people feel cared for Loud-I want my life to be noisy and busy
Mastery-I want to master a topic, skill or industry
Next, identify the ways in which you uphold these values in your life. Sometimes, this step can be a reminder of what we are lacking in our day-to-day experiences. If you can’t think of any recent examples of behavior that aligns with these values, create goals for what your behavior could look like.
Lastly, reflect on why these values are important to you. Think of people you admire or care about and the ways they uphold these values-or if the values do not apply to them, think of the values they do represent. Connecting to others can be difficult in our world, but evaluating our core values can help us be more empathetic towards ourselves and others and connect us to a deeper purpose.
Get started today
If you’re ready to take the next step, we’re here to help. Contact us through our website or call us at
(517) 322-3050 to get started.
Adapted from the Establish Your Values worksheet.
Foad, Colın M. G, Gregory G. R. Maio, and Paul H. P Hanel. "Perceptions of values over time and why they matter." Journal of Personality 89, no. 4 (2021): 689-705. https://doi org/10 IlIl/Jopy 12608.
Crocker, Jennıfer, Yu Niiya, and Domınık Mıschkowski. "Why does writing about important values reduce defensiveness? Self-affirmation and the role of positive other-directed feelings ® Psychological Science 19, no. 7 (2008): 740-747. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02150 x