By Dr. John Timberlake
What’s important
Practice Each Day · 4 of 4
Let your values guide you
In Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), identifying what is important means discovering your core values: ongoing, guiding principles for how you want to live and treat yourself and others.
You never “arrive” at values. They point you in a direction and help guide your decisions and actions. Goals are specific things you can work towards along the way.
A flexible structure of commitments can remind you of those values and help you maintain a wider, less reactive perspective. Use the exercises below to connect what matters to small actions today.
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The eulogy exercise
Imagine your life has ended and you are listening to your own eulogy. What three values would you most want people to say you lived consistently, whether or not that feels true now?
Life domains reminder
What small action today could improve each area of your life? Connect it to a realistic goal and a value.
Make space
What unhelpful habits, ideas, or plans could you do without today to make more space for what matters?