Values Clarification

Revised 2026-11-01

Values clarification begins with how you want to act in a particular situation. You do not need a final list of life principles. Choose one ordinary context and try a direction word that you can describe in behavior: careful, fair, curious, caring or honest, for example.

Give a broad word a practical meaning

“Family” can name people or an area of life without specifying how you want to act. You may mean caring, keeping a limit, honesty or making time together. Write the meaning you intend here instead of assuming that one noun supplies the same answer for everyone.

Try “In this situation, I want to act with…” and describe one possible action. “I want to be curious by asking which step I missed” connects a quality to a question. It does not establish a permanent identity or require proving that curiosity is your most important value.

Separate directions, wishes and expectations

“I want to feel confident” names a desired experience. “I want to explain what I know honestly” names a quality in your action. You can consider a clear question or preparation step while a difficult feeling remains, without promising that the feeling will change.

“I want everyone to approve” depends on other people’s responses. “My supervisor requires this form” describes a requirement to clarify. Neither sentence automatically identifies a chosen direction. A direction can inform how you handle a real duty, but cannot erase that duty.

Use an ordinary example and a counterexample

Suppose you are arranging time with a friend. You might choose care and respect, then ask what format suits them. That is a possible expression of the direction. Repeatedly insisting on a call after they decline would not become respectful merely because you label the intention caring.

Examples help make wording concrete without determining another person’s motives. A missed call can have many explanations. The worksheet does not judge what anyone values from a single action or a lack of response.

Situation I am considering:
Direction word and what I mean here:
One possible expression in action:
What the word would not require:
Consent, duty or capacity to check:
One feasible step / unresolved question:

Leave room for tension and uncertainty

Being helpful and protecting an existing commitment may pull differently. Name the actual responsibilities and two feasible options. An honest limit, a later offer or a request about priorities may fit better than an immediate promise.

There need not be one option that satisfies every preference. The record can end with an unknown fact or a conversation to have. It does not require ranking your values numerically, choosing a “best” person to emulate or explaining your private history.

Use the clarification only while it helps

WHO distinguishes ways of acting from goals and discusses small feasible steps. This page uses that general distinction in independently written examples and a brief record. It is not its role-model exercise, a diagnosis or a tested treatment.

The NHS notes that mindfulness can be unhelpful or make some people feel worse. Stop or change a reflection that increases distress or becomes another demand. Appropriate qualified support may be useful for persistent difficulties affecting everyday life; a webpage cannot assess their cause.

For how the word affects an actual choice, see how values shape choices. For a particular moment with more than one action available, use the choice-point practice. You can keep a direction provisional rather than solve your whole future.

Sort direction, outcome and action

Values vs Goals: An Everyday Action-Sorting Worksheet supplies comparison examples, ten explained cases and an editable record. Use it when the wording itself is unclear.