What Are Values, and How Are They Different From Goals?

What is the difference between a goal and a value?

• Goals are concrete. If you set your goals effectively, they are specific, achievable, and measurable (see How Can You Set Better Goals and Stick to Them?).

• Values are more global. They define what is important to you, what you stand for, and how you want to live your life.

• Values determine how you want to act on an ongoing basis. You cannot necessarily “achieve” a value, but you can live your life according to one.

Here are some examples:

• If you want to enter a romantic relationship, date for a while, and get married, those are goals.

• If you want to spend your life being loving and loyal, those are values.

• If you want to earn a lot of money, save some for your kids to go to college, and take your family on lots of expensive vacations, those are all goals.

• If you want to be supportive to your family, that's a value.

• If you want to lose 10 pounds, build muscle, and eat healthier foods, those are all goals.

• If you want your life to be full of self-care, that’s a value.

• There are countless other potential core values including kindness, integrity, dependability, acceptance, bravery, generosity, joy, gratitude, independence, open-mindedness, resilience, trustworthiness, and authenticity.

Why is it important to identify your values?

• Values are like a compass — they give you direction and keep you on track when you’re traveling.

• Just as you’ll never get “all the way north” when following a compass, you’ll never be done following your values.

• But as long as you’re following your values, you’ll know you’re going in the right direction and can feel great about that.

• Your values can guide your goals and your choices. In the compass metaphor, your goals are like the sights you want to see on your trip.

• Because values are never “achieved,” you can always go back to them.

• For a goal like acing a midterm, you either achieve it or you don’t – and either way it’s over once you get your grade.

• But pursuing values like working hard or personal growth is ongoing.

How can you identify your values?

Imagine it’s your 80th birthday — really picture this in your mind.

• Imagine yourself surrounded by loved ones. Your closest, longest-term friend stands up to give a speech about you.

• Which of your attributes would you want them to talk about? How would you want them to fill in this blank: “the best thing about <name> is, I could always count on them to be _____________.”

Think about these different areas of your life: work/education, relationships, play/leisure, and health. In each of those areas, fill in these blanks:

• “In my work/education, I want to behave in ways that are ___________.”

• “In my relationships, I want to behave in ways that are ___________.”

• “In my play/leisure, I want to behave in ways that are ___________.”

• “In regards to my health, I want to behave in ways that are ___________.”

Now, think about your “values” and make sure they’re yours.

• Growing up, our values are often aligned with or the same as those of our parents.

• For those leaving home and heading off to college, make sure that your values and goals are actually yours – not ones that others expect you to have.

• You want to make sure that you’re living the life that you want and achieving what you want to achieve in college.

• Your parents can be a compass for you earlier in life, but you also need to learn to navigate for yourself to feel like a successful adult.