A List of Common Values to Help You Understand What Matters to You
This page offers a list of common values to help you better understand what matters to you.
You do not need to choose the “right” ones. Notice which words feel meaningful, familiar, uncomfortable, or missing from your life right now.
Tip: Don’t choose values that sound impressive. Choose the ones that feel honest.
What are values?
Values are the qualities, principles, and directions that matter to you and can guide how you live.
They are different from goals. A goal is something you can complete, such as getting a new job, moving to another country, finishing a course, or having a difficult conversation.
A value is a direction you can keep returning to, such as honesty, care, courage, creativity, freedom, stability, learning, or connection.
For example, “become healthier” may be a goal. The values underneath it might be health, self-respect, energy, balance, or care for your future self.
If you would like to explore values more deeply, you can try this related exercise: Values clarification exercise.
How to use this list
Read through the list below and mark how important each value is to you.
Choose 5-10 values that feel important right now. Later, you can narrow them down to 3–5 core values. There is no perfect number, and your values can also change over time.
Afterward, you'll get a list of values you identified as very important.
You can ask yourself:
- Which of these values do I already live by?
- Which ones feel neglected?
- Which ones do I want to bring more into my daily life?
- Which value would make the biggest difference if I acted on it this week?
List of common values
Acceptance
to be open and accept yourself, others, life, etc.
Adventures
to be entrepreneurial; actively seek, create, or explore new things, experience new things
Assertiveness
to respectfully assert your rights, and express your feelings, needs, and desires; to respect others' needs and desires
Authenticity
to be real and true to yourself
Beauty
to appreciate, create, develop, or cultivate beauty in yourself, others, and the environment, etc.
Care
taking care of yourself, others, the environment, etc.
Collaboration
collaborating and interacting with others
Compassion
acting with kindness towards people facing difficulties and towards yourself
Compliance
being respectful and obedient to rules and duties
Connection
fully engaging in what you do and being fully present with others
Cooperation
being involved, helping, or doing a positive deed for yourself or others
Courage
being brave or courageous; insisting in the face of fear, threat, or difficulties
Creativity
being creative or innovative
Curiosity
being interested, open, and curious; exploring and discovering
Encouragement
encouraging and rewarding behavior that you value in yourself or others
Equality
treating others as equal to yourself, and vice versa
Excitement
seeking, creating, and participating in activities that are exciting, stimulating, or captivating
Fairness
treating people equally or in a way that is right or reasonable
Flexibility
adjusting and easily adapting to changing conditions
Forgiveness
being forgiving towards yourself or others
Freedom
living freely; choosing how you live and behave freely, or helping others do the same
Friendliness
behaving in a pleasant, kind way towards someone
Generosity
being generous, sharing, and giving to yourself or others
Gratitude
being grateful and highly valuing positive aspects of yourself, others, and life
Health
take care of your physical and mental health as well as well-being
Honesty
being honest, truthful, and sincere with yourself and others
Humility
being unpretentious or modest; letting your achievements speak for themselves
Humor
to see and appreciate the humorous side of life
Independence
being independent and making your own choices
Industriousness
being hardworking and dedicated to what you’re doing
Intimacy
opening up, revealing oneself, and sharing emotionally or physically in close personal relationships
Joy
being someone who loves fun; seeking, creating, and participating in joyful activities
Justice
standing up for justice
Kindness
being kind, compassionate, attentive, and caring towards yourself or others
Love
to love and be loved
Mindfulness
being aware, open, and seeking experience in the here and now
Mutuality
building relationships with a fair balance of giving and taking
Openness
being able to think about, accept or listen to different ideas or people
Orderliness
being well arranged or organized
Patience
the ability to wait, or to continue doing something despite difficulties, or to suffer without complaining or becoming annoyed
Perseverance
to do or achieve something, even when this is difficult or takes a long time
Pleasure
creating and bringing pleasure to yourself or others
Respect
being respectful to yourself or others; being polite, attentive, and showing a positive attitude
Responsibility
taking responsibility and being accountable for your actions
Romance
being romantic; expressing and showing love or affection
Security
ensuring the protection and safety of information or maintaining the safety of yourself or others
Self-awareness
being aware of your thoughts, emotions, physical sensations and behavior
Self-care
taking care of your health, well-being and satisfying your needs
Self-control
being able to control your emotions and actions; acting according to your own ideals
Self-development
continuing to grow, improving knowledge, skills, character, or life experience
Sensitivity
creating, exploring, and enjoying experiences that stimulate the five senses
Sexuality
exploring or expressing your sexuality
Skill
constantly practicing and improving your skills, and fully engaging in their use
Spirituality
connecting with something greater than yourself
Strength
influencing or having power over others, such as taking on responsibility, being a leader, facilitator or organizer
Support
providing support, assistance, encouragement, and being available for yourself or others
Taking on challenges
accepting the challenge to grow, learn, and improve
Trust
being reliable, committed, faithful, sincere, and trustworthy