A Comprehensive List of Core Values

Knowing your core values isn’t about turning yourself into a perfectly optimized human. Rather, it’s about being aware of what truly matters to you so you can make better choices. Your core values are the quiet drivers behind every decision you make, guiding how you spend your time, energy, and attention.

Think of them as your life’s GPS coordinates: when you’re clear on them, life feels more intentional; when you’re not, it’s easy to feel pulled in a dozen different directions.

How to Use This List

You don’t have to know your top 10 values right away. Start by reading through the list and circling (or highlighting) any that spark a reaction — whether it’s “yes, that’s me” or “I wish that were me.” Then, narrow it down to the ones that feel non-negotiable in how you want to live your life right now.

Your values aren’t carved in stone. They’ll shift as you move through different seasons, and that’s normal. The point isn’t to lock yourself into a fixed identity, but to create a compass you can keep checking against when you’re making big (or small) decisions.

Once you’ve narrowed it down, keep your core values somewhere visible, either in your journal, on a sticky note by your vanity, or as a wallpaper on your phone/tablet, so you can revisit them often. The more you align your daily choices with them, the more your life will feel like it actually fits you.

The Ultimate List of Core Values

There are about 250-odd core values covered in the list below. Take your time to go through them with an open mind.

Common Core Values from Philosophical Works

In case you believe for even a second that all this talk of “core values” is some modern-day self-help speak, I wanted to highlight that plenty of the core values that you see today actually appear in much older philosophical texts. In fact, the list you see below (around 100-odd values) has been drawn from Aristotle’s virtues, Stoic philosophy, Confucian ethics, and Enlightenment thought.