Core values list: find what matters most to you

What are core values?

Core values are the few things that matter most to you. They aren’t rules, and they aren’t things to achieve. They’re more like the direction you’d like your days to lean, even when they’re busy.

Knowing yours can make some everyday choices a little clearer: what to say yes to, what to let go of, and what a good ordinary day looks like for you.

How to find your core values

This core values exercise has five short steps. First, read the list and choose everything that feels true. Keep up to ten of those, then up to five. After that, you can write what each one looks like on an ordinary day, and finish with three short lines about more, less and enough.

Go slowly. Narrowing the list down is the hard part, and it’s meant to be. If two values feel equal, ask yourself which one you’d miss more after a week without it.

Personal values examples

Values tend to show up in ordinary things more than in big statements:

• Someone who values quiet might leave the radio off in the car.
• Someone who values hospitality might keep a spare chair and a spare cup.
• Someone who values roots might cook a grandparent’s recipe on Sundays.
• Someone who values freedom might keep one evening a week unplanned.
• Someone who values craft might mend a sweater instead of replacing it.

Every value in the list, with a line about each, is lower on this page.

A printable values worksheet

If you’d rather use paper, the blank worksheet has the whole list to tick, room to narrow it down, and the same questions as the exercise. It prints on two pages, and you can save it as a PDF from your browser’s print window. It’s free to print and share, unchanged, for personal, classroom and counseling use.

Print a blank worksheet

When values pull against each other

Freedom and security, or adventure and home, can pull in different directions. You can choose both; they can take turns. Your five may change over the years, too. When life changes, come back and see whether they still fit.

Keeping what you wrote

Your choices and anything you write stay on this device, so they’re here when you come back. Nothing is sent anywhere. Start again clears it all.

Where to go next

Journal Prompts has quiet questions for writing more about what matters. An Unhurried Day can turn it into one slow day. And if a value brings up a feeling that’s hard to name, the Feelings Wheel can help you find the word for it.