We all operate from a hierarchy of values. Such a structure organizes the thousands of values we have, setting their significance in our lives. More often than not, one’s hierarchy of values is implicit, i.e. not deliberately constructed.
A hierarchy of values is a mental framework that organizes what you consider most important in life and guides how you allocate your time and energy. Whether you know it or not, your values are already organized in some way, reflecting their relative importance. If you haven’t made this hierarchy explicit through conscious thought, however, the organization of your values is likely unclear or ineffective. A well-defined hierarchy of values is essential for leading a focused, organized, and fulfilling life. So, the question is: How do you create an explicit, thoughtful, hierarchy of values?
Criteria for the Hierarchy
Hierarchies are found everywhere and are organized based on different criteria for evaluating the elements within them. For example, in a workplace, the hierarchy is based on job roles, with entry-level employees at the bottom, followed by managers, directors, and executives, with the CEO at the top.
Similarly, when organizing your values, it’s important to define the criteria you will use. While values can be organized according to various criteria, we are focusing on wellbeing as the standard. The act of choosing, pursuing, and obtaining values contributes to your life. It is the pursuit and/or achievement of one’s own values that generates a whole set of positive emotions associated with overall wellbeing.
Importantly, building a hierarchy based on your wellbeing does not mean that the values at the top will be purely recreational, that one will only maximize fun or whatever is expedient. Often, wellbeing and happiness come from pursuing values that require hard work and a lot of effort. It’s the values one has that generate long-lasting wellbeing—values that foster a higher baseline of emotional resilience, helping you tackle challenges and embrace new experiences.
Building the Hierarchy
Now that we’ve established the criteria, let's dive into what an individual’s hierarchy of values looks like. Begin by placing the many thousands of values you have in life as level 1 values. If the fact that you have thousands of values in your life is not clear to you, read my previous blog post. In short, your level 1 values include all the items and objects you have, the people in your life and activities you do with them, spiritual values like love and friendship, and so on.
Out of these many thousands of values, which ones are more important? I value my headphones, but they don’t need much nurturing and remain on level 1. My MBA, however, does require more of my attention: I need to attend classes every week. This value has a much bigger impact on my life in the long-run than my headphones, even though I use my headphones every day. I can easily substitute my headphones for $5 if they break. But my MBA costs a lot more than that, and will yield much more value to me.
Narrowing down your values means you are being selective about what is really important to you. These values are far more relevant in your life, which means you allocate more time and energy to cultivate them. This will be a manageable set of values that give you an overview of your life.
To help clarify your level 2 values, get a pen and paper to do the following exercise. For each of the following categories—Relationships, Health, Career, Finances, Learning, Spirituality, Hobbies, and Maintenance—write down up to three of your top values. To guide you in selecting your values, imagine you’re stranded on a desert island and can only bring three things from each category.
You don’t have to identify three values in every category, and you might not even have relevant values in a category or two. This, too, will be useful information for you to think about which parts of your life might not be getting the attention they require.
Here’s a real example of my own values:
Relationships: Emily (wife); Alice (daughter); Chloe (daughter);
Health: lift heavy + run; protein + creatine;
Career: user interviews; write blog posts; Essentialize app;
Finances: increase investment portfolio;
Learning: learn to code; MBA; Y Combinator;
Spirituality: teach philosophy;
Hobbies: build Lego; listen to music;
Maintenance: renew passports;
After you finish this quick exercise, you will have an overview of your life. It’s a summary of what you care about, what you spend your time and energy with. Later you can upgrade more values from level 1 to the respective category as a level 2 value.
Now you have enough information on paper to identify your level 3 values. These are the values that, when you interact with them, generate the most energy, satisfaction, and wellbeing. These are your level 3 values, and your key values.
A key value is a type of value that generates long-lasting wellbeing when you interact with it. While many things in life can bring short-term wellbeing, key values are different. They provide long-lasting benefits, meaning that when you engage with them, they boost your wellbeing not only for a few minutes, but the rest of the day and sometimes even for several days to come. This sustained impact contributes to your overall sense of wellbeing.
In reality, only a few things in life generate long-lasting wellbeing. The goal is not to have 20 key values—that would be unmanageable. You only need to focus on a few to experience the positive impact of long-lasting wellbeing.
From the above list of level 2 values, I identified that my current key values are, “write blog posts”, “lift heavy + run”, and “user interviews”. The specific activities I do for these key values is what I focus on a weekly basis to sustain and improve my wellbeing.
Iterating on Your Key Values
Now you have a basic, initial hierarchy of values, but this is just the beginning. With this simple 3-tiered hierarchy, you can more easily evaluate whether certain values are supporting your wellbeing. If the key values you have selected are not in fact increasing your overall wellbeing, then you need to change them.
Your value hierarchy is not set in stone—it should evolve with your changing context. Over time, your interests shift, what you find important changes, and your goals for how to allocate time and energy may vary. New values emerge, while others may lose their significance. Life is always in motion, and every day, your actions are a pursuit of maintaining and/or achieving values.
If you find that a key value no longer serves you, demote it to level 2. Then, look at your level 2 values to see if any could be elevated to level 3, becoming a key value. Likewise, if a level 2 value loses relevance, move it down to level 1, and upgrade a level 1 value that now holds more importance. When a new value emerges, assess where it fits—level 1, 2, or 3—and adjust accordingly.
For example, not long ago, learning to code was one of my key values. At the time, it was essential for me to develop a technical skill to increase my value in the job market and allow me to create products independently. However, after finding a technical co-founder to build and launch the Essentialize app, my focus shifted, the business demands grew, and writing this blog became more important. I replaced learning to code with writing this blog and continued to experience the same level of wellbeing, just with a different key value.
To stay aligned with your changing context, take time at least once a week to reflect on your value hierarchy. This is an ongoing process—life shifts, and so do your interests. Keep recalibrating, always with your wellbeing at the forefront.
Organize Your Values with Essentialize
Understandably, identifying your key values, organizing them into a 3-tiered hierarchy, and knowing when to adjust them can feel overwhelming. Fortunately, that’s exactly what the Essentialize app was designed to help you do.
Essentialize is an app that helps you organize your life based on your values. Its onboarding walks you through the identification of your level 2 and level 3 values. Additionally, the app’s wellness feature helps you track the impact of your values on your wellbeing, serving as a tool to gauge when it might be time to change your key values.
By building a thoughtful, values-based framework, you will cultivate a more intentional, focused life that supports both your personal growth and overall happiness. If you’re looking for a practical tool to help you implement this process, download the Essentialize app on iOS or Android. It can guide you in organizing your values and tracking their impact on your wellbeing.
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