What are personal Core Values
Your personal Core Values are the fundamental sources of your inspiration, intrinsic motivation, and inner sense of self. They live within you, and shape how you think, feel, and act long before they are consciously understood.
What are personal Core Values
Your personal Core Values are the fundamental sources of your inspiration, intrinsic motivation, and inner sense of self. They live within you, and shape how you think, feel, and act long before they are consciously understood.
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Most people don't know their personal Core Values.
Each of us has a unique set of four personal Core Values drawn from nearly 38 million different Core Value combinations.
This complexity makes self-identification unlikely, which is why most of us live with some sense of what inspires us, but we often fail to articulate it to ourselves or to others confidently.
Why does it matter?
When individuals live according to external expectations rather than their own personal Core Values, they can experience tension, disengagement, or a lack of direction.
Discovering your personal Core Values is the aha moment that changes things. People instantly start to understand themselves, and why certain choices feel more natural than others.
When we live out our Core Values in healthy ways, our choices feel less like obligations and more like expressions of who we actually are. We experience greater wellbeing, engagement, and performance.
As we learn the personal Core Values of those around us, differences become easier to understand, and we are better able to create collective wins that bring out the best in everyone.
When you discover your personal Core Values it instantly becomes easier to understand, and intentionally live out, what matters to you.
Personal Core Values are not the same as the values we are taught.
Personal Core Values are not the values taught by families, cultures, or organizations. Those are external systems. Personal Core Values are internal. They reflect the deeper psychological drivers that shape how you interpret your experiences and make decisions at a fundamental level.
It's not about rejecting other value systems. It is about understanding the internal ‘why’ behind how we think, feel, and act.
How do I discover my Core Values?
You can discover your Core Values using Seity Health’s Personal Core Values Assessment. Developed by physicians and validated by research psychologists, it takes just 5 to 7 minutes to complete and identifies your unique set of four Core Values.
Living aligned with your Core Values is powerful.
Core Value-misalignment
Core Value-misalignment happens when the choices a person makes and the way they live do not match their personal Core Values. Over time, this can show up as disengagement, reduced motivation, or a sense that something important is missing.
Core Value-alignment
When Core Value-alignment is present, people feel more grounded. They experience greater wellbeing and become more motivated and able to contribute in ways that feel authentic and meaningful.
Living in alignment with your personal Core Values is not a philosophy.
Science has known for a long time that identity and motivation are inseparable. Seity makes that insight accessible to everyone.
Activates reward centers of the brain2
Gives you a future orientation2
Mental wellbeing improves3
Psychological distress decreases4
Self-compassion improves5
Increases positive behaviors towards others6
Less rumination after failing7
Reduces negativity8
Increases creativity at work9
Makes life feel more meaningful10
Higher levels of optimism and happiness11
Lower levels of sadness and anger12
Increased success in reaching goals13
Performance improves at work and school14-16
Living in alignment with your personal Core Values is not a philosophy.
Science has known for a long time that identity and motivation are inseparable. Seity makes that insight accessible to everyone.
Activates reward centers of the brain2
Gives you a future orientation2
Mental wellbeing improves3
Psychological distress decreases4
Self-compassion improves5
Increases positive behaviors towards others6
Less rumination after failing7
Reduces negativity8
Increases creativity at work9
Makes life feel more meaningful10
Higher levels of optimism and happiness11
Lower levels of sadness and anger12
Performance improves at work and school14-16
Increased success in reaching goals13
References: 1.Stanislaw H, McCreary J. Identifying Core Values with a Hierarchical, Ipsative, Preference Assessment. Journal of Personality Assessment. 2022. doi:10.1080/00223891.2022.2090369 2.Cascio CN, O’Donnell MB, Tinney FJ, et al. Self-affirmation activates brain systems associated with self-related processing and reward and is reinforced by future orientation. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 2016;11(4):621-629. doi:10.1093/scan/nsv136 3.Sheldon, K. M., & Elliot, A. J. (1999). Goal striving, need satisfaction, and longitudinal well- being: The self-concordance model. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75(3), 482-497. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.76.3.482 4.Yasuma N, Watanabe K, Iida M, Nishi D, Kawakami N (2019) Personal values in adolescence and psychological distress in adults: A cross-sectional study based on a retrospective recall. PLoS ONE 14(11): e0225454. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0225454 5.Thomaes, S., Bushman, B. J., de Castro, B. O., & Reijntjes, A. (2012). Arousing “gentle passions” in young adolescents: Sustained experimental effects of value affirmations on prosocial feelings and behaviors. Developmental Psychology, 48(1), 103-110. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0025677 6.Lindsay, E. K., & Creswell, J. D. (2014). Helping the self help others: Self-affirmation increases self-compassion and pro-social behaviors. Frontiers in Psychology, 5(421), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00421 7.Koole, S. L., Smeets, K., Van Knippenberg, A., & Dijksterhuis, A. (1999). The cessation of rumination through self-affirmation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77(1), 111-125. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.77.1.111 8.Emanuel, A. S., Howell, J. L., Taber, J. M., Ferrer, R. A., Klein, W. M., & Harris, P. R. (2018). Spontaneous self-affirmation is associated with psychological well-being: Evidence from a US national adult survey sample. Journal of Health Psychology, 23(1), 95-102. https://doi.org/10.1177/1359105316643595 9.Jiang, L. (2018). Job insecurity and creativity: The buffering effect of self‐affirmation and work‐affirmation. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 48(7), 388-397. https://doi.org/10.1111/jasp.12519 10.Nelson, S. K., Fuller, J. A., Choi, I., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2014). Beyond self-protection: Self- affirmation benefits hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 40(8), 998-1011. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167214533389 11.Emanuel, A. S., Howell, J. L., Taber, J. M., Ferrer, R. A., Klein, W. M., & Harris, P. R. (2018). Spontaneous self-affirmation is associated with psychological well-being: Evidence from a US national adult survey sample. Journal of Health Psychology, 23(1), 95-102. https://doi.org/10.1177/1359105316643595 12.Bono, J. E., & Judge, T. A. (2003). Self-concordance at work: Toward understanding the motivational effects of transformational leaders. Academy of Management Journal, 46(5), 554-571. https://doi.org/10.5465/30040649 13.Gaudreau P. Goal self-concordance moderates the relationship between achievement goals and indicators of academic adjustment. Learning and Individual Differences. 2012/12/01/ 2012;22(6):827-832. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2012.06.006 14.Bono JE, Judge TA. Self-Concordance at Work: Toward Understanding the Motivational Effects of Transformational Leaders. The Academy of Management Journal. 2003;46(5):554-571. doi:10.2307/30040649 15.Smith AL, Ntoumanis N, Duda JL, Vansteenkiste M. Goal striving, coping, and well-being: a prospective investigation of the self-concordance model in sport. J Sport Exerc Psychol. Feb 2011;33(1):124-45. doi:10.1123/jsep.33.1.124 16.Purcell, R., Gwyther, K. & Rice, S.M. Mental Health In Elite Athletes: Increased Awareness Requires An Early Intervention Framework to Respond to Athlete Needs. Sports Med – Open 5, 46 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40798-019-0220-1