How to Discover Your Values and Use Them to Make Better Decisions

They are what you consider most important in your life, literally what you “value. ” They are broad concepts that can be applied across a wide range of circumstances, as opposed to narrow answers to specific questions.

If you are conscious of them or not, you have values for every part of your life. And if they are in line with your goals you’re more likely to be successful.

• Having a core values list helps you make better decisions. The decisions you make come more quickly and efficiently than they would without it.
• Being unconscious of your core values makes you likely to keep repeating the same mistakes.

The core values that are most valuable to each of us come from our own personal experience, not from being taught.

As you put them into practice you’ll get better at internalizing these values and they’ll express themselves subconsciously with smaller decisions, as well.

• Reflect on the past week, read your list of values and plan for the next.
• Read it when you are struggling to make big decisions to find the right answer.
• If more than one choice lines up with your core values, use reasoning and your feelings to decide.
• Use it frequently to better internalize the values and begin to express them subconsciously in smaller decisions.

Many adopt values from other pre-packaged sources, like a religion, culture, or legal system. But, by adopting a value system without reflection, you make way for personal values that cause conflict between your perceived beliefs and the actions you take.

To find your own values:

• Make mistakes and violate your current values. Good judgment comes from experience and that comes easy by making bad judgments.
• Hear others clearly express a deeply held belief of yours you couldn’t articulate.

• Authenticity: to be authentic, genuine, and real; to be true to myself
• Contribution: to contribute, help, assist, or make a positive difference to myself or others
• Curiosity: to be curious, open-minded, and interested; to explore and discover
• Fairness: to be fair to myself or others
• Generosity: to be generous, sharing, and giving, to myself or others
• Honesty: to be honest, truthful, and sincere with myself and others
• Persistence: to continue resolutely, despite problems or difficulties
• Respect: to be respectful toward myself or others; to be polite, be considerate and show positive regard
• Responsibility: to be responsible and accountable for my actions

Research shows that the happiest and most productive people take daily actions in line with their core values and get more easily into a state of flow. This gives them a constant sense of motivation because they see how their daily work leads to a long-term vision, meaningful to them.

Your personal values are specific to you and a result of your own life experiences. You can discover and refine your values through life experience or encountering ideas that resonate with you. Having a written list of your personal values will help you make better decisions.