Values List Worksheet

You can’t quite name what’s wrong, but something feels off. Maybe it’s your career. Maybe it’s how you’re spending your time. You look at your life from the outside and it seems fine—good job, stable income, checking the boxes—but the nagging sense that you’re drifting persists.

A values list worksheet helps you identify what matters most by selecting from a comprehensive values list and narrowing to 3-10 core values. Use this guide to clarify your values and make better career decisions.

Key Takeaways:

• Most experts recommend 3-10 core values: Narrowing from a comprehensive list provides enough depth to capture your complexity while remaining practical to remember and apply
• Value-career alignment predicts satisfaction: Research shows that when you choose work that facilitates attainment of your values, you have greater career satisfaction and perform better
• Common worksheet process: Review a comprehensive values list → select 15-30 that resonate → narrow to your top 5-10 → rank by priority → define what each means to you specifically
• Values reveal themselves in action: Look for patterns in peak experiences, what frustrates you, who you admire, and how you spend discretionary time and energy

What Are Personal Values?

Personal values are beliefs about what’s important, worthwhile, and desirable in life—the principles that guide your decisions and behavior across different situations. Unlike specific goals you can achieve or skills you develop, values transcend particular contexts. They’re the internal compass pointing you toward what feels meaningful.

Shalom Schwartz, the psychologist who developed Schwartz Values Theory, describes values as “beliefs linked inextricably to affect.” When values are activated, they become infused with feeling. This is why making decisions that align with your values feels right, while violating your values creates discomfort or regret.

Here’s why values matter for your career—research published in the Journal of Personality tracked individuals over ten years and found that when people choose careers facilitating attainment of their values, they have greater career satisfaction and perform better. Not slightly better. Significantly better.

But values aren’t the same as related concepts that often get confused:

• Values vs. goals: Values are directions (like “north”—you never arrive at north, you just keep heading that way). Goals are destinations you can reach and complete. “Learning” is a value; “complete a master’s degree” is a goal.
• Values vs. skills: You can value creativity without being creative yet. Values point to what matters; skills are what you’ve developed.
• Values vs. passions: Passions can be fleeting; values tend to be stable. You might be passionate about a hobby for six months, but your core values persist across years.

Values aren’t just nice to know—they’re the foundation for making decisions that feel right.

How Values Worksheets Work

Values worksheets are structured tools—often printable PDFs or guided exercises—that help you identify your core values through a process of selection, reflection, and prioritization. They’re rooted in positive psychology and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), frameworks that emphasize aligning actions with what matters most to you.

According to Jeremy Sutton, Ph.D., “Worksheets designed to uncover core values are powerful tools rooted in positive psychology, helping individuals align their actions with their deepest motivations.”

Here’s what values worksheets typically include:

• A comprehensive list of values (often 100-200 values)
• Instructions for selection and narrowing
• Ranking or prioritization exercises
• Space to define what each value means to you specifically
• Sometimes reflection prompts or domain-specific assessments

The methodology comes from multiple therapeutic and psychological traditions. Positive psychology emphasizes understanding what makes life worth living. ACT focuses on identifying values to guide committed action. Schwartz Values Theory provides the research foundation showing that certain core values are universal across cultures.

You’ve probably felt this—the sense that you should know what you stand for, but when someone asks directly, you struggle to articulate it. The worksheet isn’t magic. It’s a structured way to surface what you already know but haven’t articulated.

Different approaches exist (we’ll cover those next), but most values worksheets use some form of progressive filtering—start with many options, narrow to what resonates, then identify your core values.

Different Types of Values Worksheets

Values worksheets generally fall into three categories—selection-based (choose from a list), reflection-based (answer questions about peak experiences), and domain-based (identify values across life areas like work, relationships, and personal growth). The best values worksheet is the one you’ll actually complete—structure matters less than honest reflection. That said, understanding the three main approaches helps you choose where to start.

Selection-Based Worksheets

Start with a comprehensive list of values and progressively narrow down. This is the most common approach.

Strength: Fast, structured, good starting point when you’re not sure where to begin. Example: DevelopGoodHabits approach—review 100+ values, select 30 that resonate, narrow to 10, then identify your top 5.

Reflection-Based Worksheets

Answer prompts about peak experiences, role models, and frustrations to surface values from your actual life rather than abstract lists.

Strength: Surfaces values from lived experience, not just theoretical selection. Example: Sweet Spot exercise (identify when you felt most alive), Tombstone exercise (what do you want to be remembered for?).

Domain-Based Worksheets

Identify values across specific life domains—work, leisure, relationships, personal growth.

Strength: Shows where you’re aligned or misaligned by domain. Example: Bull’s Eye Worksheet uses a dartboard divided into four domains (work/education, leisure, relationships, personal growth/health) where you plot your current position relative to your ideal.

Here’s a quick comparison:

If you’re someone who prefers structure, start with selection-based. If you learn by reflecting on your life, try reflection-based. Don’t overthink which type to start with—you can always try a different approach if the first one doesn’t resonate.

Step-by-Step Guide to Using a Values Worksheet

The most common values worksheet process involves five steps—review a comprehensive list of values, select 15-30 that immediately resonate, narrow to your top 5-10 core values, rank them by priority, and define what each value specifically means to you. This progressive filtering helps you move from overwhelming choice to focused clarity.

Step 1: Review a Comprehensive Values List

Start with a list of 100-200+ values. TMM offers a printable list of 150+ core values organized by category.

Don’t overthink definitions yet—just scan. You’re looking for values that make you pause, that create a flicker of recognition.

Step 2: First-Pass Selection (15-30 Values)

Circle or highlight values that immediately resonate. Trust gut reactions.

Here’s the thing—if you pause to analyze whether a value “should” matter to you, it probably already does. That pause is the signal.

Look for values that feel energizing or important when you read them. According to research on peak experiences, “A good way of starting is to look back on your life—to identify when you felt really good and confident. These peak moments often reveal your values in action.”

Don’t worry about “why” yet. Just notice what draws your attention.

Step 3: Narrow to Core Values (5-10)

Review your 15-30 selections. Ask—”If I could only honor 10 of these, which would they be?”

This is where it gets harder. Narrowing from 30 to 10 can feel impossible—they all matter, right?

Look for themes and overlap. “Adventure” and “exploration” might be expressing one core value. “Honesty” and “integrity” might collapse into one.

Most experts recommend 5-10 core values. This range captures your complexity while remaining practical enough to actually remember and apply. If you try to honor 20+ values, they lose prioritization power—everything becomes important, which means nothing is.

Step 4: Rank by Priority

Force-rank your core values from 1 to 10.

This matters when values conflict. Let’s say you value both “adventure” and “security.” What happens when you’re choosing between a stable corporate job and starting a business? Your ranking tells you which value wins the tiebreaker.

Ranking reveals what you’ll protect when you can’t honor everything.

Step 5: Define What Each Value Means to You

Write 1-2 sentences for each core value. What does “creativity” mean in your life? Not the dictionary definition—your definition.

How does this value show up when you’re living it? What does it look like in action?

This personalization makes abstract values concrete. “Creativity” means something different to a designer than to a strategist than to a parent. Your definition is what matters.

Don’t skip this step. It’s the difference between having a list of words and having a decision-making tool.

Alternative Approaches

If selection feels too constraining, try reflection-based exercises—identify your peak experiences, note what frustrates you most, think about people you admire and what qualities they embody.

If you want domain-specific clarity, use the Bull’s Eye Worksheet to assess alignment across work, leisure, relationships, and personal growth.

Common Personal Values (Organized by Category)

Personal values cluster into eight domains that reflect fundamental human needs and motivations: achievement and success, relationships and community, learning and growth, autonomy and independence, creativity and expression, integrity and ethics, health and well-being, and service and contribution. Research shows that identifying values across multiple domains—rather than concentrating in just one—predicts greater life satisfaction and resilience during transitions.

Here are some of the most commonly identified values within each category:

Achievement & Success: Accomplishment, ambition, competence, excellence, influence, leadership, mastery, recognition, success, winning

Relationships & Community: Belonging, collaboration, compassion, connection, family, friendship, intimacy, loyalty, service, support, teamwork, trust

Learning & Growth: Curiosity, development, discovery, education, growth, improvement, innovation, knowledge, learning, wisdom

Autonomy & Independence: Autonomy, freedom, independence, individuality, privacy, self-determination, self-reliance

Creativity & Expression: Authenticity, creativity, expression, imagination, originality, playfulness, self-expression, spontaneity

Integrity & Ethics: Fairness, honesty, integrity, justice, responsibility, transparency, trustworthiness

Health & Well-being: Balance, fitness, health, mindfulness, peace, rest, safety, security, stability, well-being

Service & Contribution: Compassion, generosity, helping, impact, legacy, making a difference, meaning, purpose, service

This is representative, not exhaustive. For a comprehensive list, see TMM’s printable list of 150+ values organized by category.

If you’re scanning this list looking for “the right answer,” stop. The values that matter are the ones that resonate with you, not the ones that sound impressive.

How to Apply Your Values to Career Decisions

Once you’ve identified your core values, use them as a diagnostic tool to evaluate your current career and guide future decisions. When your work facilitates your values, research shows you experience greater satisfaction and better performance—but when there’s misalignment, it often shows up as persistent dissatisfaction, burnout, or a nagging sense that something’s off.

Diagnose Current Alignment

Compare your core values list against your current work. Which values does your job actively support? Which values are you compromising or suppressing?

The gap between stated values and actual life reveals discovery opportunities. As explored in what personal values are and how they function as an internal compass, recognizing misalignment is often what drives people to complete a values worksheet in the first place.

Evaluate Career Options

Use values as a filter for evaluating new opportunities. Will this role or company allow you to honor your top 3-5 values?

Someone who values “autonomy” and “creativity” will experience very different satisfaction in a stable corporate role with clear hierarchy versus less secure but flexible consulting work. Both jobs might look good on paper. Your values tell you which one will feel right.

Make Values-Based Decisions

When facing a decision—job offer, career pivot, major project—ask—”Which option honors more of my core values?”

Values help when options both look good objectively. The decision becomes clearer when you filter through what matters most to you specifically.

Identify Small Adjustments

Don’t assume misalignment means quit your job. Sometimes small changes increase alignment significantly.

If you value “learning” but feel stagnant, ask for a professional development budget. If you value “autonomy” but feel micromanaged, negotiate more decision-making authority.

Perfect alignment isn’t always possible or necessary—but awareness of the gap is crucial.

For more on choosing a career path that aligns with your values, TMM offers practical frameworks for evaluating career fit. You can also explore career assessment tests as additional tools for gaining career clarity.

FAQ – Values Worksheet Questions

Q: How many core values should I have?

Most experts recommend 3-10 core values, with 5-10 being most common. This provides enough depth to capture your complexity while remaining practical to remember and apply. If you try to honor 20+ values, they lose prioritization power—everything becomes important, which means nothing is.

Q: Can my values change over time?

Yes. While core values tend to be relatively stable, they can evolve through major life experiences, relationships, career shifts, and personal growth. What you valued at 25 (maybe “adventure” and “novelty”) might shift at 45 (maybe “stability” and “family”). That evolution isn’t a failure of self-knowledge—it’s evidence of growth. Consider revisiting your values every few years, especially during major transitions.

Q: What if my values conflict with each other?

Values often conflict in specific situations—for example, “adventure” and “security” might pull in opposite directions when choosing between a stable job and starting a business. This is why ranking matters. Your ranking tells you which value wins the tiebreaker. Conflicts don’t mean you chose wrong; they mean you’re navigating the inherent tensions of being human.

Q: What if my current life doesn’t align with my values?

That misalignment is often what drives people to complete a values worksheet in the first place. Recognizing the gap is the first step. From there, you have options—make small adjustments to increase alignment, plan a larger change (career pivot, life restructuring), or accept temporary misalignment if you’re working toward something that does align. Perfect alignment isn’t always possible or necessary—but awareness of the gap is crucial.

Q: What’s the difference between values and goals?

Values are ongoing directions (like “north”—you never arrive at north, you just keep heading that way). Goals are specific destinations you can reach and complete. For example, “learning” is a value; “complete a master’s degree” is a goal. You can honor the value of learning through many different goals.

Q: Are work values different from personal values?

Work values are a subset of personal values—they’re the values that matter most to you in a work context. Research identifies four work value dimensions—intrinsic (satisfaction from tasks themselves), social (relationships), extrinsic (rewards), and status (achievement/recognition). Your personal values inform which work values matter most.

Taking the Next Step with Your Values

Identifying your core values gives you a lens for making decisions—but values clarity is just the starting point. The next step is connecting your values to your strengths and the impact you want to make, which is the foundation of finding your life purpose.

Revisit your values periodically, especially during transitions. Values can evolve. The person you’re becoming might value different things than the person you were five years ago.

Small alignment adjustments compound over time. You don’t need to overhaul your entire life tomorrow. One decision that honors your values, then another, then another.

For deeper work on connecting your values to your life purpose, TMM offers frameworks for discovering the thread that connects your values, strengths, and desired impact.

Values worksheets aren’t magic—but they’re a structured way to surface what you’ve always known and give you a tool for making better decisions. You’ve done the hard work of identifying what matters. I believe in you. Now put it to use.