The Complete Core Values List: 149 Values with Meanings (Free PDF)

A core values list is a curated set of the qualities people organize their lives around: family, courage, honesty, freedom, and the rest. You scan it to find the few that genuinely describe you, then rank them. This page gives you one master list: 149 core values, each with a one-line meaning, built on the 48-value framework from Start With Values plus 101 more. It's free, and there's a printable PDF.

The master listDownload the PDFIntrinsic, extrinsic, means, endThe four dimensionsWhat to do with your listFlip through them as cards

Core values are the compass points of our lives. They inform our choices, shape our relationships, and guide how we respond to challenges. Goals come and go. Values describe what we stand for at the deepest level — and that's a very different thing.

Here's the tricky part. Values are often unconscious. We're running on them all day without ever naming them. Which is exactly why putting words to them can be so transformative — clarifying your values helps you understand what actually motivates you, how you want to show up in the world, and which opportunities genuinely align with your priorities rather than just looking good on paper.

So here is one master list to work with. It starts from the 48-value framework from my book — four dimensions, twelve values each — the same framework behind the free Values Assessment, and adds 101 more values to spark ideas for your own personal or organizational list.

As you go through them, aim to land on three to five values that resonate most deeply. Focus on qualities that truly reflect who you are, not the ideals you think you "should" hold. That distinction matters more than it sounds like it should.

The master list: 149 core values with meanings

One instruction before you begin: think about how you are, not how you'd like to be. It's an easy thing to get backwards. Some people find categories helpful. Others find them limiting. If you're in the second camp, leave the filter on All and scan from A to Z. Each value carries a one-line meaning and two tags, intrinsic or extrinsic and means or end, which are explained below. Tap the values that feel like you as you go, and they'll collect in a shortlist at the bottom.

Prefer a print-friendly version? The PDF has all 149 values with their meanings, grouped by dimension, with room to mark your shortlist — ideal for workshops, journaling, or marking up with a pen.

Download the 149 Values PDF

The original two-page worksheet from the book is still available here.

A list is a good start, but it's not the only path in. There are many other ways to discover your core values — and if you'd rather be guided than browse, the free Values Assessment reveals your top five in about three minutes, no sign-up required.

How to read each value

A word on a list is only a candidate. Three quick tests tell you whether it is really yours, and what kind of value it is.

The "I am" test

Values are what matter most to you, so a real one should work as a description of you and not just a preference. Instead of "I value creativity," you should be able to say, "I am a creative person." Instead of "I value wealth": "I am a wealthy person." Instead of "I value status": "I am a status-oriented person." If the sentence sounds false, or you wince saying it out loud, that tells you something useful about whether the value belongs on your list.

Intrinsic or extrinsic

Every value in the list is tagged intrinsic, extrinsic, or both, so you can quickly see whether it sits within your control or relies on others to be fulfilled. Intrinsic values are satisfying in themselves: you can practice patience, kindness, or creativity every single day, regardless of circumstances. Extrinsic values, like status, reputation, and wealth, depend on outside reward or approval, which makes them more precarious. There's nothing inherently wrong with them, and awareness is the point. Research in self-determination theory, from Edward Deci and Richard Ryan and later Tim Kasser, finds that people who build their lives around intrinsic values report greater well-being. Of the 149 values here, 127 are intrinsic, 9 are extrinsic, and 13 hold elements of both. If you're unsure about one of yours, run the four-question test.

Means or end

Every value is also tagged means, end, or both. Means values are stepping stones, the "how" of your life: learning, resilience, collaboration. End values are the reason you climb the ladder in the first place, the "why": legacy, peace, wisdom. Psychologist Milton Rokeach drew the same line in The Nature of Human Values (1973), calling them instrumental and terminal values. Most of us hold a scattering of both, and that's healthy. But if your shortlist is heavily biased toward means values, take a wide-angle view and ask which deeper, lifelong values they are serving.

The tags for the 48 assessment values are the same ones the Values App uses. I classified the other 101 with the same definitions. Treat every tag as a starting point: the same word can be intrinsic for one person and extrinsic for another, and your own answer is the one that counts.

The four dimensions behind the list

The backbone of this list comes from my book, Start With Values (Penguin, 2025): 48 values organized under four dimensions of a balanced life — Belonging, Growth, Impact and Fulfillment. The other 101 values are sorted into the same four dimensions, so you can see where your shortlist clusters. And aim for a maximum of five — the point isn't to collect everything you admire, it's to uncover the essence of what matters most to you.

This is the framework as it runs in the Values App today, a 2026 revision of the list printed in the book: Loyalty, Stability, Vitality, and Tradition joined it, while Collaboration, Adaptability, Physical Fitness, and Philanthropy were retired from the assessment. You'll still find Collaboration, Adaptability, and Philanthropy in the master list above. If you're working from the book, both lists get you to the same place.

What to do with your list

A shortlist of values becomes powerful the moment you use it. Rank your top three, test them against a real decision with the free Decision Matrix, and if you're choosing values for a team rather than a person, the Company Values Builder turns each one into behaviors, hiring questions, and rituals. Words on a list are the start. Living them is the point.

Why I built this list

I've been fascinated by values ever since I discovered a values tool at Life by Design in the early 2000s. I worked to build that tool into a platform I created with educator Ian Hutchinson, and the most important thing we implemented was pairwise comparison. We found it was the most effective way for people to prioritize their values and create a true hierarchy.

I stayed fascinated by the different approaches, especially as values became important to authors like Brené Brown and Mark Manson, and as lists like Brené Brown's and James Clear's found big audiences. I decided not to just leave people with a list, so I built the Values App. It draws on the research for my book, Start With Values, clustering 48 values within four dimensions, and it uses that same pairwise comparison to reveal your top five.

This is one view on values, and there are many, many other values out there. That's why this page goes beyond my own framework: a comprehensive list, each value with a definition and a classification, so you can find the words that are truly yours.