The Life-Changing Value Of Owning Your Core Values

Values, the principles by which we live, come in all forms, but the value of terminal values —that include happiness and inner peace —is at the core of who we are, and can redirect our fate.

What Are Values?

The word “value” also has many meanings- each equally valuable:

• Value: The regard that something is held to deserve, or the importance, worth, or usefulness of something. Something of value has merit or worth.

• Value: The principles or standards of behaviour based on that person's judgement of what is important in life. These are their moral principles or the guiding point of their moral compass.

• Value (verb): To estimate the monetary worth of something. Valuers put a price on how much something could potentially be worth.

• Value: To consider someone or something to be important or beneficial. Certain people may add a lot of value to your life, or you may think that money is the most valuable thing.

There are four types of values- the principles or standards we put importance on:

• Terminal values: The guiding force behind life choices, terminal values define a person's ultimate goals they seek to achieve in life, such as happiness, world peace, or freedom. Terminal values are the desired end-states of being, such as happiness, worldwide peace, or liberty.

• Instrumental values: How you conduct yourself- whether things like honesty or ambition are the means to achieve your end goal, or terminal values, are the personal characteristics or behavior traits that help you get there. For example, if you're seeking financial security or a comfortable life, do you put ambition over honesty?

• Dominant values: The core beliefs that guide your personality and decisions, or the values within the society or culture you live in that shape a culture and define acceptable behavior, are primary values that hold more influence than others. For example, do you choose loyalty over honesty in a difficult situation? Dominant values are the principles, beliefs, and behaviors the majority sees as providing a sense of order and aim to stick to, and they influence life areas like family and education.

• Cultural values: Providing a common framework for understanding right and wrong, shared principles, beliefs, and ideals guide a community's or society's behavior and decisions, forming a collective identity. Customs, traditions, and overall moral conduct are passed down from generation to generation as part of the socialization process.

Terminal values are considered the most important and stable part of a person's value system: they guide life choices and strategies to achieve one's goals and are usually given the utmost priority. They differ from instrumental values, which are the behaviors or ways we use to reach our terminal values.

Our core values guide us to find an ethical way of achieving our goals, whether it's personal values like integrity, honesty, or trust, or collective values such as justice, consideration, or trust. Values are often the opposite forces of the seven deadly sins:

VALUES	DEADLY SINS
Humility	Pride
Kindness	Envy
Patience	Anger (Wrath)
Diligence	Sloth
Generosity	Greed (Avarice)
Temperance	Gluttony
Chastity	Lust

Purgatorio, a poem by poet and philosopher Dante Alighieri, defines purgatory as a place to pay the debts incurred through sin, a kind of karmic cleansing. On the purgatory mountain you have to climb to cleanse yourself, you have the chance to reflect on your sins on seven terraces- and change your ways. Once you've overcome your deadly sins, you can climb up the Mount of Purgatorio to reach the highest level, which Alighieri postulates is the Earthly Paradise.

Core Values And Identity

“Who am I?" These three words can create more inner conflict than someone taking us by surprise with the other three words, "I love you." Both need some introspection and often lead to better self-awareness and growth.

Values, an inherent part of our identity, are deeply connected with who we are. Our core values act as a moral compass and framework, shaping our identity, while our identity is influenced by the people we surround ourselves with and how we perceive ourselves. When our values are in alignment with our identity, we experience greater feelings of well-being and authenticity- and a stronger sense of self.

Core values play a central role during formative years when we, as teenagers, explore and develop our values. Adolescence is where values and identity are actively explored and developed, and are influenced by those around us, although generational trauma can often lead to a less-than-ideal set of values being adopted.

Steven Hitlin’s published paper, Values as the Core of Personal Identity: Drawing Links between Two Theories of Self, argues that values are a cohesive force within personal identity and uses measures of a key dimension to determine which values are prioritized and how a values-based concept of personal identity influences the formation of a role identity.

According to The Values Institute, our experiences and beliefs shape our values, which in turn form our identity. Although many people like to think that their beliefs are grounded in reality, this isn't always true. At any rate, values are a critical component of our identity. Those beliefs could be the moral, cultural, or religious values of the group we associate with, and identity requires a certain degree of awareness.

While value systems are generally formed within the family unit, when we look back, a typical symptom of a midlife crisis, we sometimes realize we are not who we thought we were over the past ten, 20, or even 30 years. We discover that achieving a major goal doesn't make us as happy or as satisfied as we thought it would. The material things we desperately wanted- and got- don't feel as good in reality as they did in the dream, or your dream job's realities weren't what you hoped for.

This is where identity and values converge: if who you are- your identity- aligns with your core values, you will have a strong identity, which in turn gives you confidence in your decisions and choices. But a strong identity built on the internalized values of your parents or culture has its risks too.

Western culture has traditionally prized values such as power, achievement, and the pursuit of assets and pleasure, whereas Eastern culture is built on humility, respect, security, conformity, and obedience. Yet these conflicting value choices are not necessarily mutually exclusive.

When our values align with our true selves, we think and act according to them, which leads to a more fulfilling life, and if others are shown our real selves, life is less complicated and happier, and we have authentic self-esteem that supports happiness and growth. We achieve a healthy self-image as our values and identity align.

But values are not cast in stone: they are fluid, adapting as we grow our self-esteem, our self-image, and our life.

Core Values As A Value Proposition

Values are also a key factor that sets humans apart from AI. While AI may have a module to emulate the characteristics of its creators, a robot cannot prioritize these above the profits its creators are seeking to drive. Values are a small, somewhat insignificant part of the value proposition AI offers.

For people, it's the opposite: their core values are intrinsically linked to their identity. We sell ourselves into new groups by presenting an identity that aligns with group values, because our values resonate with that particular group. This may include values such as respecting others' rights or the spread of propaganda in the form of gossip that some find serves their purposes or otherwise defines who they are. And relationships with like-minded people are worth more than glittering gold.

A value proposition highlights the features intended to make something or someone attractive to customers. Or friends, or groups they want to be part of. Being your real self naturally draws like-minded people to you, but the same can be said of appearing to be something else.

For example, someone I know posted a picture of their German Shepard Dog on Facebook years ago. GSDs are magnificent, intelligent animals, yet this photo somehow attracted likes and comments mainly from right-wing white supremacists. It appears that lovers of certain dog breeds may use their love of animals as a veil to hide their values. The person removed the photo from their profile, but I do not doubt that many of the GSD owners who are closet or open racists continued to live their lives constrained by their hatred, with a false self-image, much like the AI corporations do. But at least the GSD will live out his life retaining the value of loyalty so prized by its owner.

Fortunately, people- and dogs- with real, deeply entrenched values that make the world a better place have been around throughout the generations, and each generation grows closer to enlightenment. And there’s real value in that.

How Recognizing The Value Of Values Can Alter A Life Path

Knowing your values can be life-changing. Shaping life path choices by defining what's most important, values influence decisions and actions, which in turn determine long-term outcomes. People who understand and align their identity with their core values tend to find a more profound sense of purpose and meaning, and foster a life path that feels more authentic and less stressful. There's definitely value in that.

Sitting at the center of your identity, core values provide the fundamental basis for decision-making and behavior, acting as an internal guide and influencing the way you approach different situations and make decisions. Values aligned with identity naturally increase productivity and personal effectiveness, making challenges easier to overcome.

More importantly, finding purpose and meaning is simplified when you live according to deeply held values. An authentic life is one lived by embracing what matters most to you and living accordingly. We can consciously direct our lives toward goals and activities that resonate with our authentic selves, where we can find our life's meaning.

When core values that align with your long-term aspirations and goals are used to guide your choices, it can be a transformative process, opening up possibilities and fostering a more meaningful life.

But it means taking stock of what your values are, and blending them into your lived experience, authentically.

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