How to Identify Your Core Values

How to Identify Your Core Values | California Psychics

Your Core Values Are Essential

Your core values are the guiding light in your life. They help you make choices that feel right to you, leaving you more fulfilled and sure of yourself. They inform your relationships with others, from your family members to your friends to your romantic partners. Your core values are the stepping stones on which you can build your entire future, making them an important part of your personal foundation.

Wondering where your core values will take you? Read with a life path psychic and find out!

The Difference Between Principles and Values

At first glance, your principles and values may seem like the same thing, however, there are subtle differences between the two. Values are the things that are important to you, but can change over time as your circumstances, understanding, and knowledge change and grow. There’s nothing wrong with that, it’s just part of being human. Principles, on the other hand, tend to remain the same throughout your life, trandscending the changes you go through both emotionally and psychologically. Principles are generally the unspoken rules you live by and they influence how you interact with and treat other people. So, while there may be some overlap between your values and your principles, your values will most likely stem from your principles, rather than the other way around.

Establishing Your Values

In order to begin your journey towards your best self, you first have to establish what your core values are. Read the list below, and write down any words that stand out as fundamentally important to your life and well-being (feel free to add any that haven’t been included in the list).

Empathy

Integrity

Bravery

Adventure

Family

Respect

Stability

Wisdom

Accountability

Kindness

Teamwork

Harmony

Autonomy

Love

Knowledge

Wealth

Loyalty

Generosity

Friendship

Self-Respect

Determination

Prosperity

Forgiveness

Humanity

Religion

Order

Creativity

Quality

Freedom

Optimism

Status

Justice

Curiosity

Innovation

Change

Strength

Grace

Balance

Patience

Clarity

Diversity

Change

Now, choose three to five words from the list above that are the most important to you. Then, meditate on and write down at least three actions per word that will allow you to live by these core values.

Digging Deeper

Your core values are an essential component of who you are, but identifying them with words and a few actions may not be enough. However, by digging deep and noticing how your values play a role in your everyday life, you can be more in tune with the morals and standards that drive you. Ask yourself the following questions to determine what your core values are:

1. What do I notice?
If you don’t already keep a journal, start one. In it, start identifying what you notice about your life: your reactions to certain situations, what makes you feel uncomfortable, what makes you happy, what invigorates you, and what drains you. When you feel frustrated, what do you do? How do you take care of yourself or not? Simply by paying attention to your life and your role in it, you can start to uncover patterns. It is there that your core values will start peeking through.

2. How can I expand upon the values I’ve identified?
Journaling will help you with this next question as well. Take your list of values and actions you made earlier and expand on it. Have there been times when you haven’t lived up to your core values? What did you fail to do? How can you do it differently next time, so that you are in alignment with how you want to live your life? Don’t look at this exercise as an opportunity to beat yourself up. Use this as a chance to learn from your mistakes and grow.

3. During what moments in my life was I the happiest, most proud, and most fulfilled?
Look back on your life to figure out the highlights: What moments stand out to you? What was it about the people, circumstances, or yourself that really made you feel positive emotions? What do those moments collectively say about what’s important to you then and now? The answers to these questions might start to reveal details about yourself and what you truly value in life, like the importance of kindness, integrity, stability, or accountability. Write these down as you identify them, and see how they line up with the list you’ve made.

4. What can I not live without?
Finally, ask yourself this question about the values you’ve collected so far: If one of them were taken away, could you live without it? If the answer is no, then this could be one of your core values. For instance: Could you live without kindness? Could you survive without autonomy? Could you feel fulfilled without creativity? Knowing what you can’t live without, whether it’s in your family, your work, or your romantic life will help you further identify what your true values really are. You may initially think that you can’t live without any of these values but deep contemplation will reveal which ones are actually essential to your existence and which would simply be nice to have. Focus on the former and you’ll soon have a handful of guiding values that can drive your life in the right direction.

Starting Over

Most people probably grow up learning certain values from their families or their environments. As people grow and evolve, their values can too, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Other times, you’ll reach a point where you realize that you’re living very differently from what the things you value would claim you do. This can be a jarring revelation, but remember that you’re only human, and it’s never too late to change. If you discover that you haven’t been living your life in a way that matches up to what you truly value, get your thoughts in order, try the exercise above, speak to a therapist or a psychic, then turn the page on your story, because when your heart is in the right place, the Universe will support you every step of the way.


Want to build a better future? A life path reading with one of our talented life path psychics can tell you where you’re headed. And if you don’t like where you’re headed, your life path psychic can certainly steer you down a better path.

Find a life path psychic or learn more about a life path reading.


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