Values Snapshot
You’re a Settler
Grounded. Loyal. Oriented toward stability, familiarity, and belonging.
You’re a Settler
Grounded. Loyal. Oriented toward stability, familiarity, and belonging.
What This Snapshot is telling you.
This values snapshot isn't a diagnosis or a personality label.
It doesnt tell you how to live or who to be.
It explains how you experience the world - 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 coherent or draining, often long before we 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.
Values research* identifies three distinct ways people experience the world — often described as different worldviews. These worldviews reflect 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 motivated by achievement, progress, and recognition.
Others are driven by meaning, ethics, and authenticity.
As a Settler, your experience of life is shaped by a different set of needs.
Settler needs are oriented toward:
- stability and predictability
- familiarity and continuity
- belonging and connection
- feeling safe, grounded, and secure in your world
This doesn’t make you resistant to change or lacking ambition.
It means your psychological fulfilment comes from stability, familiarity, and a sense of belonging.
That’s not a limitation or a value judgement.
It’s simply how your inner motivation system works.
As a Settler, this is how life often feels
You’re likely to feel most at ease when:
- life feels steady and predictable
- relationships feel dependable and familiar
- there’s a clear sense of where you belong
- routines and roles provide reassurance rather than pressure
You tend to notice when something feels off — especially when stability or continuity is disrupted, even if others seem unfazed.
You may struggle to stay engaged with:
- constant or poorly explained change
- situations that feel uncertain or unsettled
- expectations that disrupt what feels familiar or secure
- pressure to adapt before you feel ready
This isn’t reluctance or fear.
It’s information about what matters to you
Why values differences matter
You don’t experience life on your own.
The people around you— partners, colleagues, family
— may be responding through a different values lens, even when you’re facing the same situation.
This is why:
- change can feel exciting to some and unsettling to others
- reassurance can matter more to you than others realise
- misunderstandings can arise despite good intentions
What feels stabilising or comforting 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, 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 psychological priorities shaping how life is experienced.
The table below contrasts life attributes across Settler, Prospector and Pioneer Groups. it illustrates their very distinct worldviews.
This is settler:
| Life attributes: | Settler (You) | Prospector | 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 for a Settler:
- certain changes feel disproportionately unsettling
- reassurance feels essential rather than optional
- situations that look “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 Settlers, this is the moment they realise:
“I’ve been reacting from my values — even when I didn’t know that’s what was happening.”
That recognition alone can shift how you see 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:
- steady
- grounded
- reassuring
Effort feels manageable. Decisions make internal sense.
When that alignment is missing, it starts to wear you down. For a Settler, when needs around stability, familiarity, and belonging arent being met for too lon, the impact doent stay abstract.
It can show up as:
- unease or low-level anxiety
- fatigue from constant adjustment
- resistance to change you can’t quite explain
- a longing for things to settle
- feeling unanchored or out of place
This doesn’t mean something is wrong with you.
It means an important 'need' is no longer 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 — and permission to take those signals seriously.
When Settler values are brought back into alignment:
- calm returns
- confidence steadies
- effort leads somewhere that feels safe and worthwhile
Purpose stops feeling abstract and you feel in the flow ... happy !
Well being becomes something you experience — not something you force.
This is where values move from being interesting information to something genuinely life-shaping
Want to learn more?
This snapshot gives you a literal 'Snapshot' of your Settler 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.