Values Snapshot
You’re a Prospector
Ambitious. Adaptive. Energised by progress, recognition, and momentum.
You’re a Prospector
Ambitious. Adaptive. Energised by progress, recognition, and momentum.
What This Snapshot is telling you.
This Values Snapshot isn’t a diagnosis or a personality label.
It doesn’t tell you how to live or who to be.
It explains how you tend to experience life from the inside — what fulfils you psychologically, what gives you energy, and what matters most to you at this stage of your life.
Values operate quietly in the background. They shape how situations feel, how decisions land , and whether life feels engaging or frustrating - often long before you consciously name what's going on.
This snapshot offers a clearer language for understanding that experience.
Values and how we experience life
We don’t all experience life in the same way.
We each make sense of the world through a values lens
— the way we interpret what matters, what feels right, and what feels satisfying or meaningful to us.
Values research* identifies three distinct ways people experience the world — often described as different worldviews.
These worldviews refelect different deep psychological needs we all have that shape how people experience life.
All three exist across society, families, relationships, and workplaces. None is better than another.
They are simply different ways of experiencing the same world.
This is why two people can be in the same situation — at home, at work, or in a relationship — and walk away feeling very differently about it.
Not because one is right and the other is wrong.
But because they are responding to different inner needs.
How values shape experience.
Some people are primarily oriented toward stability, familiarity, and belonging.
Others are oriented toward meaning, ethics, and authenticity.
As a Prospector, your experience of life is shaped by a different core set of needs.
Prospector needs are oriented toward:
- achievement and progress
- recognition and esteem
- momentum and opportunity
- feeling effective, capable, and successful
This doesn’t make you shallow, competitive, or image-driven.
It means your psychological fulfilment comes from movement, advancement, and seeing your effort turn into results.
That’s not a flaw or a value judgement
It's simply how your inner motivation system works.
As a Prospector, this is how life often feels
You’re likely to feel most engaged when:
- your efforts lead to clear results
- your contributions are noticed or valued
- you can see momentum or improvement
- there’s a sense of forward motion in your life or work
You tend to thrive in environments that reward initiative, performance, and progress.
You may struggle to stay motivated with:
- situations that feel stagnant or slow-moving
- roles where effort goes unseen
- environments that limit opportunity or recognition
- long periods without feedback or visible outcomes
This isn’t restlessness for the sake of it.
It’s information about what matters to you.
Why values differences matter
You don’t experience life on your own.
Everyone around you — partners, colleagues, family
— may be responding through a different values lens, even when you’re facing the same situation.
This is why:
- conversations can feel misaligned
- expectations can quietly clash
- frustration can build despite good intentions
What feels motivating or important to you may not register in the same way for someone else — and vice versa.
It’s not about who’s right or wrong.
It’s about different psychological needs shaping how people make sense of the same situation.
The three values worldviews
Values research* describes three distinct values worldviews, often referred to as:
Settler, Prospector, and Pioneer.
These terms don’t describe personality types or life stages.
They describe different sets of deep psychological needs that shape how people experience life, interpret situations, and decide what matters.
The table below shows how these three values worldviews tend to experience the same aspects of life differently.
There’s no hierarchy here. None is better or worse. They are simply different spsychological priorities shaping how life is expereinced.
The table below contrasts life attributes across Settler, Prospector and Pioneer Groups. it illustrates their very distinct worldviews.
This is prospector:
| Life attributes: | Settler | Prospector (You) | Pioneer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Core need | Safety and belonging | Recognition and success | Meaning and connection |
| Main question | Is it safe? | Am I winning? | Does it feel true? |
| The right way to be | Keep things stable | Be admired and successful | Stay curious and open |
| Doing the right thing means… | Follow the rules | Do what’s effective or popular | Act with honesty and ethics |
| At work | Keep it steady | Hit goals, show results | Try new things, explore better ways |
| Preferred brands | Traditional, trusted | High-status, visible | Thoughtful, ethical, useful |
| Who they listen to | Family, familiar voices | Experts, influencers | Experience, trusted peers |
| I really don’t like… | Feeling unsafe | Failing | Being bored |
| When there’s a problem… | “They should fix it.” | “Let’s fix it fast.” | “Let’s figure it out together.” |
| View of bad things | “It always happens to us.” | “I’d rather not think about it.” | “We’ll work through it.” |
| Why they buy things | Need or habit | To reward themselves | Because it matters or intrigues them |
| What they want most | Stability | Status | Purpose |
| Would like more of… | Familiar comfort | Progress and growth | Connection and ideas |
| Identity comes from… | Roots and belonging | Achievement and image | Beliefs and integrity |
Making sense of what you’ve just seen
Seeing these differences side by side often explains things people have felt for years but couldn’t quite put into words.
It helps make sense of why:
- certain conversations feel surprisingly difficult
- compromise can feel uncomfortable even when you’re trying
- situations that seem “fine” to others don’t sit easily with you
This isn’t about incompatibility or failure.
It’s about different psychological needs responding to the same reality.
For many Prospectors, this is the moment they realise: "I've been responding to waht drives me - even when I dodnt know that's what was happening".
That recognition alone can change how you interpret past experiences — and how you approach future ones.
The hidden influence of values
Your values don’t switch on and off depending on circumstances. They are always at work, shaping how life feels from the inside.
When your lived experience aligns with your values, life tends to feel:
- energising
- coherent
- purposeful
Effort feels worthwhile. Progress feels motivating. Decisions make internal sense.
When that alignment is missing, it starts to wear you down. For a Prospector, when needs around progress, recognition, and momentum aren’t being met for too long, the impact doesn’t stay abstract.
It can show up as:
- frustration or impatience
- dips in confidence or motivation
- feeling underutilised or overlooked
- questioning your direction without seeing a clear next move
- restlessness, dissatisfaction, or disengagement
This doesn’t mean something is wrong with you. It means an important psychological need isnt being met - and that matters.
Why this insight matters
Understanding your values doesn’t require turning everything upside down.
It gives you language for what you’re already experiencing. It gives you clarity about why certain things energise you — and why others drain you.
When values are brought back into alignment:
- energy returns
- decisions feel clearer
- effort leads somewhere that feels worthwhile
- Purpose stops feeling abstract.
- Direction becomes easier to trust.
Happiness becomes something you experience — not something you chase.
This is where values move from interesting information to something genuinely life-shaping.
Want to learn more?
This snapshot gives you a literal 'snapshot' of your Prospector Values — not the full picture.
If you’re curious to go deeper, you have two options.
Both are simply ways to help you understand 'what makes you tick' from the inside out.
A Midlife Values Q&A Chat
A focused, personal conversation where you can ask questions and explore what this means for you
The Pioneer Values Deep Dive Report
A detailed report with further insight and data into how your values shape your decisions, energy, and sense of fulfilment.