Family Values Examples & Categories

When it comes to creating values for your family, sometimes you just need a little help with inspiration or how to get started. We’ve collected some of our favorite family values examples here, so keep reading for ideas and our own insights on how to help your family in this process.

Categories for Family Values Examples

Rather than just immediately reading through a long list of ideas, one of the best ways we have seen families begin to develop values is by creating two or three categories they want their values to fall in. There is no shortage of good things you could create values around, so defining categories will help you focus on what is personal for you and your family.

Here are a few categories ideas and corresponding traits:

Character Values Examples:

How can you articulate values that help enforce the standards you’d want to set around character? What traits should be inherent with how you act?

What are values related to your spiritual life that you want to guide your family? It should be a belief that connects to how you act or what you prioritize.

What are the values of where you hope to be, that set a high standard for how you live? These could be similar to the character list as well, but these may be the bigger picture goals you aspire to as a way of life.

These small lists are just the start of many other ideas for your family to discover its values. The good news is that there is no right or wrong answer when it comes to creating your own values. Choosing guiding principles that call your family to a higher standard will always be an impactful action.

Take some time to reflect on these lists. Are there different categories you would use? What words resonate with you? Brainstorming on these areas will help you begin to define your values.

Want further guided help in this process? Utilize our Family Values Conversation Guide Worksheet to further identify your family values and start the conversation together. 

Another Resource...

Be sure to take it a step further and practice how to integrate your established family values through generosity and more. Remain aligned in your values, mission and purpose as a family by working through the Family Legacy Study. Learn more about it here!