Personal values are a set of beliefs that differentiate between "good" and "bad" in a community, culture, or society. They form a mindset that defines what one views as the ideal standards of behavior, such as patience and honesty. Personal values provide an internal reference for what is good, beneficial, important, useful, beautiful, desirable, and constructive). They are one of the factors that generate behavior and influence the choices made by an individual). Personal values exist in relation to cultural values, either in agreement with or divergence from prevailing norms).

Identifying personal values requires deep self-reflection and self-honesty, which can be difficult and time-consuming. Personal values may help common human problems for survival by comparative rankings of value, the results of which provide answers to questions of why people do what they do and in what order they choose to do them). Personal values may and may not correlate with a persons behavior. Some values may be practiced by an individual and executed in daily life, while others may be important to someone, but they are not implementing them.

Examples of personal values include transparency, self-discipline, trustworthiness, loyalty, freedom, creativity, and success. Personal values are important because they help individuals live an authentic, happy life, and they guide decision-making. By identifying personal values, individuals can shape how they interact with the world around them and lean into those values when faced with difficult conversations or challenging projects.