Values Clarification (ACT): How to Find Your Core Values
The Values Clarification technique is a core mechanism of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) that helps you identify what genuinely matters so you can act with purpose when feeling lost or depleted. Supported by over 400 randomized controlled trials, ACT demonstrates that aligning daily actions with personal values significantly increases psychological flexibility and reduces distress. Instead of treating emotions as problems to eliminate, this approach uses painful feelings as signals pointing toward neglected values. If you feel exhausted at work, the problem might not be the workload, but a disconnection from your core value of creativity. By completing a structured inventory like the Bull's Eye exercise, you pinpoint exactly where your behaviors diverge from your chosen directions. You then select one small, specific action to reconnect your daily routine to your intrinsic motivation.
ACT supported by over 400 randomized controlled trials
Values-aligned behavior significantly increasing psychological flexibility regardless of goal achievement
What Is This Technique?
Values Clarification originated within Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, developed by Dr. Steven Hayes and colleagues. It is a psychological process that distinguishes lifelong directions from achievable goals. Goals are destinations you can arrive at and check off a list, like finishing a degree or getting a promotion. Values are continuous directions, like walking west; you never arrive at "west," but you can always keep moving toward it. When people experience burnout, midlife crises, or deep apathy, it often stems from pursuing goals that do not align with their intrinsic values. Values Clarification provides a structured framework to map out exactly what you care about across distinct domains: work, relationships, family, social life, and personal growth. By articulating these internal priorities objectively, you separate your authentic self from the obligations, roles, and expectations imposed by society or family conditioning.
How Does It Work?
Values act as profound motivational constructs by changing the psychological function of everyday behaviors. According to Relational Frame Theory, identifying a value creates a cognitive network that infuses ordinary actions with deep meaning. Choosing to text a friend shifts from being a simple chore to an active expression of your value for connection. Neuroimaging research shows that reflecting on personal values activates the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, a brain region critical for self-referential processing and reward valuation (Brosch et al., 2012). This activation simultaneously reduces threat-signaling in the amygdala. Furthermore, values alignment shifts your motivation from avoidance to approach. Instead of acting merely to avoid the pain of guilt or fear, you begin acting to build toward the person you want to become. This shift from avoidance-based coping to approach-based living reduces experiential avoidance, which is a primary driver of depression and chronic anxiety.
Sources: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (Hayes, Strosahl, & Wilson, 1999), The Bull's Eye Values Survey (Lundgren et al., 2012), American Psychological Association Database (APA PsycNet)
Step-by-Step Guide
- 1
Rate Your Life Domains
Begin with the Bull's Eye exercise by rating major areas of your life on two specific dimensions: how important the area is to you from one to ten, and how aligned your current actions are with that importance. The gap between your high-importance domains and your low-alignment behaviors reveals the exact source of your current distress.
- 2
Differentiate Values from Goals
Ensure you are setting a continuous direction rather than an end destination. "Being a loving partner" is a lifelong value you practice daily, while "planning a date for Friday" is a goal you complete. Discard destinations and focus on identifying the qualities of action you want to embody regardless of your circumstances.
- 3
Select Your Top Five
Review a comprehensive list of values spanning categories like connection, authenticity, contribution, and vitality. Narrow the list down to the five values that make you feel most like yourself when you live by them. Strip away what you feel you should value based on external expectations, focusing purely on what you intrinsically care about.
- 4
Commit to One Small Action
Translate your chosen value into immediate behavioral activation. Select one specific action you can complete today, in under thirty minutes, that moves you one step toward your top value. If you selected connection, reach out to an old friend. This small step bridges the gap between abstract realization and tangible meaning.
When Should You Use This?
You should use Values Clarification when your emotional intensity is moderate, typically between a three and a six on a ten-point scale. It is highly effective when you are experiencing a sense of being lost, depleted, or hollow, as these feelings almost always signal a disconnection from meaning. It is also the ideal technique when facing major life transitions, such as career changes, empty nesting, or relationship endings, where old identities no longer serve you. Do not attempt this exercise during an acute crisis or severe panic attack, as the cognitive load of evaluating life domains will increase distress. Wait until your nervous system is stabilized before using this tool to plot your long-term direction.
Try Values Clarification in EmoFlow
Reconnecting with your core principles is difficult when you are overwhelmed by the demands and noise of daily life. EmoFlow is a complete emotion tracking app that helps you identify the psychological gaps causing your distress and disconnection from purpose. When you feel empty or lost, use the interactive emotion wheel to pinpoint the exact feeling among 130 emotional states - whether it is hollowness, disconnection, or quiet despair. Based on your input, EmoFlow recommends specific emotion regulation techniques, including a guided Values Clarification exercise that walks you through the Bull's Eye assessment step by step. A quick check-in ensures you are in the right mental space to evaluate your life domains objectively without emotional flooding. The built-in mood tracker then allows you to monitor how your small, value-aligned actions improve your overall well-being over time, creating a visible record of your progress toward authentic meaning. By combining objective data with structured meaning-making exercises, you stop drifting aimlessly through life and start living with clear intention.
- Use the interactive emotion wheel to decode feelings of emptiness
- Complete guided exercises that map your actions to your intrinsic goals
- Monitor your progress with the reliable mood tracker
For Mental Health Professionals
Clinicians utilizing Acceptance and Commitment Therapy can struggle to track whether clients are actively practicing value-aligned behaviors outside of sessions. EmoFlow helps clients articulate their values and commit to small actions in their own environment. When clients use the app to log their emotional states and chosen behaviors, the app generates a detailed Session Prep Report. This report allows you to see exactly which life domains the client prioritized and which specific actions they took to close the alignment gap. Having this objective record prevents sessions from becoming simple recap conversations, letting you focus clinical time on exploring the emotional barriers and psychological inflexibility that arise when the client attempts to execute their committed actions.
- Track client adherence to ACT committed action steps between appointments
- Review life domain alignment gaps directly in the Session Prep Report
- Shift clinical focus from recounting events to dismantling avoidance behaviors
Frequently Asked Questions
What if I have no idea what my values are?
That is completely normal. Values often get buried under years of obligations, habits, and meeting other people's expectations. Instead of trying to think of abstract words, ask yourself who you admire most and what qualities make them admirable. Alternatively, think about what makes you angry. Anger usually signals that a boundary or a core value has been violated.
Is it possible for my values to conflict with each other?
Yes, and it happens to everyone. You might value professional ambition and family connection equally, creating tension regarding how you spend your time. The goal of clarification is not to eliminate this conflict, but to make conscious choices about which value requires prioritization in the current season of your life. Dynamic balancing is healthy.
Does the gap between how I want to live and how I am actually living mean I failed?
Not at all. If there were no gaps, you would not need to clarify your values. A low alignment score in an area of high importance is simply data pointing you toward where change will be most meaningful. It is a starting point for action, not a verdict on your character.
Helpful For These Emotions
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