Core Values Activity List: A Guided Activity to Uncover Your Authentic Self

One of the activities I have gotten the most positive feedback on is the core values activity. In this article, I will describe and walk you through the activity, and I will provide you with a comprehensive list of core values I created to get you started.

Narrowing down your core values can help you achieve a better understanding of yourself, and it can allow you to develop a sense of who you are and what is important to you. This way you can go through life and make better decisions that align with what you want for yourself in the future.

Let’s start with who this activity can be helpful for.

Who Can Benefit From This Core Values Activity?

I believe everybody can benefit from a better understanding of their core values. As I will describe in more detail below, core values play a significant role in all decisions we make.

If you want to live a more authentic and genuine life, this activity is for you. A major first step to living a more authentic life is understanding who you are. 

In order to be more authentic and genuine with others, we need to understand our core values. This way we can show up in relationships as we are, without feeling ashamed or uncertain.

What Is the Purpose of the Narrowing Down Core Values Activity?

The point of this activity is to explore and increase your self-understanding. core values are the aspects of ourselves that are at the core of all decisions we make. I wrote a full article on what they are and how they can impact us here. That may be a good article to read over before continuing. I want to make sure you get all you can from this activity!

Have you ever made a decision and had that little voice questioning you or letting you know it wasn’t a good idea? Well, that is your conscience, and it is based on your core values. If something does not sit right with you, it is likely because there is some aspect of that choice that goes against your core values.

How To Complete the Narrowing Down Core Values Activity

Go ahead and take a look at the list I put together below. There are  360 core values in the list compiled below. I want you to take that core values list and pick out 17 of those values that you feel resonate with you at this moment. You do not need to put them in any special order; just simply add them to your core values list.

After you’ve narrowed this entire list down to just 17, I want you to take a moment and appreciate that out of this entire list, you picked these 17. They are pretty important to you! When you are ready to move forward with the activity, move to step 1!

After you have narrowed this entire list down to just 17, I want you to take a second and appreciate the fact that out of this entire list, you picked these 17. They are pretty important to you! When you are ready to move on, scroll down to step 1!

Core Values List: A List of Over 250 Core Values

Step 1

So you have your list of 17 core values. Now, with a single line, I want you to cross off 5 of them, narrowing your list down to a total of 12. Remember, this entire list was narrowed down from 360, so just because they are crossed out does not mean they are not important to you.

The feedback I get while doing this is, “Man, I feel like a bad person for crossing those ones off,” or “This is hard!”. Remember, we are trying to focus on exploration and authenticity. Give yourself permission to not judge yourself for your list. Your list is… well… your list; it is not good or bad. It just is. Hit read more again when you have narrowed your list down to 12.

Step 2

Next, I want you to take that list of twelve and put a dot next to 2 more. This narrows your list down to a total of 10. It is important to use a different indicator for what is chosen this time crossed off, so you know when it got removed.

Typically at this step, I start hearing, “Okay, now it is getting hard.” Usually, people have a few values that mean similar things in the first elimination round. Were you surprised by any of the values that you have crossed off so far? Or has it been easy so far? Any surprises still on your list? When you are successfully down to 10, click read more to go to the next step.

Step 3

All right, you probably know what is coming next! Time to eliminate off 3 more from your core values list. This will bring your total list down to 7. This is when things get hard, and that self-judgment tends to pop up. 

Continue to remind yourself that this is exploratory and work to withhold any self-judgment you may be having. Once you have your list down to 7, you are ready to hit read more to go to the final step.

Step 4

As you can imagine, this is often the most difficult step of this activity. Go ahead and put a star next to  2 more to eliminate the,. This will bring your list down to 5. These top 5 core values are what I describe as your most consistent and influential core values. 

Typically if you notice your conscience telling you something was not a good idea, it is because that decision is in opposition to one of these 5 values that you have.

Core Values List Activity Debriefing

This activity is one that I would typically do in a group setting. One of my favorite parts about doing this activity in a group setting was how unique everyone’s list would be. Sure, there would be some overlap, but they were largely very different. 

The reason why I want people to narrow down this list from 17 to 5 is that it forces us to weigh the importance of each. Those top 5 values are truly the core of who we are. Sometimes we are reluctant to share what these values are with others because this can make us feel a bit too vulnerable. 

I have had a client take this activity and do it with their partner as a means to deepen their understanding of one another and deepen the vulnerability in that relationship. It could be a great activity for you and your partner to complete together.

If your goal is to live a more authentic and genuine life, it will be important for you to identify ways you can let these values shine through, whether it be in your actions, your work, or your conversations, let yourself be seen!

After looking at your full list again,  were you surprised that some did not make it deeper onto your list? Did you notice that there were some potentially negative values?

Some Common Observations I See When Doing This Activity With Clients

The thing about core values is this: yes they are at the core of you, but they can be shifted up or down your list. Therapy can be a great place to intentionally work on budging these core values and making them closer to what you would like. 

What I have noticed is your list will shift and change over time. Sometimes new values come into your top 17. Depending on the setting you do this activity in (work, therapy, with family) 10 to 17 will usually shift quite a bit. Values 6 to 10 can also shift, but not as frequently. Then your top 5 values are more stable, but one may drop out of your top 5 to your top 10. 

It is a great idea to complete this activity multiple times to explore how your values change from setting to setting or just over time.

Final Thoughts

Understanding your core values is one of the most important steps to living a more authentic and genuine life. This activity can be helpful by taking these “things” that are usually more abstract and making it concrete in a list.

While doing this activity, work to embrace the process and embrace how uncomfortable it can be. Remember that the more uncomfortable something is, the more beneficial it can be.

If you live in Maine and are interested in having someone guide you through this activity, I would be honored to help. Utilizing this activity and therapy can be important steps to living a more authentic and genuine life. 

Until next time,