Day 2 — Values

Time: ~75 min · Goal: name what you stand for — grounded in evidence, not aspiration.

Values are not aspirations. They’re the principles you actually use to judge whether a life feels right. The rigorous move today is order: you generate from your own Day 1 data first, and only consult a word list afterward to fill gaps. Starting from a list anchors you toward words that merely sound good. Every value you keep must point back to real evidence.

Have your tagged Day 1 notes open. You’ll reference them throughout.

1. ◆ Generate from Day 1 (15 min)

Before looking at any list, read back over your tagged Day 1 material — the peak-experience tags, the values your low points pointed to, the patterns in your energy audit. What principles were you actually operating by? Write 10–15 candidate values in your own words, each next to the Day 1 entry that evidences it.

You met a short quality/need palette on Day 1 — that’s fine. Here, pull from your evidence, not from a word list; the fuller list comes in step 2, on purpose, only after you’ve generated your own.

Each as value (in my words) — the Day 1 evidence for it:

e.g. loyalty — the year I drove home every weekend to help my dad rebuild the porch.

1. __ — evidence: __
2. __ — evidence: __
3. __ — evidence: __
4. __ — evidence: __
5. __ — evidence: __
6. __ — evidence: __
7. __ — evidence: __
8. __ — evidence: __
9. __ — evidence: __
10. __ — evidence: __

2. ◆ Now consult the list — only to fill gaps (10 min)

Now scan the list below. Add only words that name something real you missed — not words you’d like to be true. If a word here has no Day 1 evidence behind it, it does not make the cut.

Adventure · Authenticity · Autonomy · Beauty · Belonging · Boldness · Calm · Challenge · Citizenship · Community · Competence · Connection · Contribution · Courage · Craftsmanship · Creativity · Curiosity · Discipline · Discovery · Excellence · Fairness · Family · Freedom · Friendship · Fun · Generosity · Growth · Health · Honesty · Humility · Humor · Independence · Integrity · Justice · Kindness · Knowledge · Leadership · Learning · Legacy · Love · Loyalty · Mastery · Nature · Openness · Order · Patience · Peace · Persistence · Play · Pragmatism · Privacy · Purpose · Reliability · Resilience · Respect · Responsibility · Risk · Self-reliance · Service · Simplicity · Solitude · Spirituality · Stability · Stewardship · Strength · Tradition · Truth · Vitality · Wisdom · Wonder

Added from the list (with their Day 1 evidence): __

3. ◆ The disconfirmation pass (10 min)

Before you narrow, run the contrarian check — this is where you catch the values you claim but don’t actually live:

• Where have I claimed a value but repeatedly acted against it when it was costly? A value you betray every time it’s expensive is a preference, not a value. Cross it out or demote it. → __
• For my strongest candidates: what evidence would prove this isn’t core to me? If you can’t name any, you haven’t tested it. → __

4. Narrow to 10 (10 min)

From everything above, pick the 10 that feel most non-negotiable.

The test: if this value were taken from your life, would it feel like a loss of self?

1. __
2. __
3. __
4. __
5. __
6. __
7. __
8. __
9. __
10. __

5. Narrow to 5, ranked (10 min)

The hardest step. Force-rank to 5. When two compete, ask: which one, if I had to give it up, would hurt more? This ranking is what does the work in a real decision — get it right.

1. __
2. __
3. __
4. __
5. __

6. Operationalize (15 min)

For each of your 5: a one-sentence definition in your own words, what living it looks like, what betraying it looks like — and the Day 1 evidence it rests on (◆; no evidence → it’s an aspiration, move it to the list at the bottom).

Value 1 — __

• My definition: ________
• Living it looks like: ________
• Betraying it looks like: ________
• Day 1 evidence: ________

Value 2 — __

• My definition: ________
• Living it looks like: ________
• Betraying it looks like: ________
• Day 1 evidence: ________

Value 3 — __

• My definition: ________
• Living it looks like: ________
• Betraying it looks like: ________
• Day 1 evidence: ________

Value 4 — __

• My definition: ________
• Living it looks like: ________
• Betraying it looks like: ________
• Day 1 evidence: ________

Value 5 — __

• My definition: ________
• Living it looks like: ________
• Betraying it looks like: ________
• Day 1 evidence: ________

Aspirations (wanted, but not yet evidenced — honestly labeled): __

7. ◆ Conflict test (10 min)

The strongest check in the whole process. Test your ranking against 3 recent hard decisions. Does your stated ranking match how you actually chose? If not, your stated ranking is wrong — adjust it.

1. Decision: ________
   • The value I actually chose by: ________
2. Decision: ________
   • The value I actually chose by: ________
3. Decision: ________
   • The value I actually chose by: ________

Adjusted ranking (if it changed):

1. __
2. __
3. __
4. __
5. __

✓ End of Day 2

Your 5 core values, ranked, each defined in your words and resting on Day 1 evidence. → Next: Day 3 — Passions.