How to Create a Value-Based Daily Practice
A value-based daily practice is about pursuing your values over a single day. This kind of practice is about selecting specific value-based behaviors and habits to commit to daily and weekly.
A daily practice is compatible with any goals and projects you’re already working on. It’s not meant to get in the way of any current goals or projects. Instead, a daily practice is about choosing and pursuing the kind of daily activity that matters to you most.
In this post, you’ll learn how to:
Identify and capture your values
Select and optimize habits
Create a daily practice
Track and measure your growth over time
Identify and Capture Your Values
Values are private mental processes (thoughts) determining what’s important to us. Each person has values that are unique to them. When captured, values can take the form of single words, short phrases, or entire sentences. Each should describe a specific person, thing, or activity we care about. The number of values that you have isn’t important. What is most important is:
Knowing what your values are
Defining them in your own words
Turning them into committed actions (habits)
Identifying and understanding our values is an essential skill. Before you choose to pursue any goal, you should first measure it against your values. Defining our values gives us the seed motivation to pursue the right goals and learn new skills. They can also help us figure out how to manage our time and change our behavior in the direction we want to change.
The “Value Capture” Activity
You can identify and capture your values through the Value Capture Activity. Here’s how:
Grab a blank paper or open a new word-processing document.
Ask yourself: “What matters most to me in my life?” No matter what answers come to mind, write down anything that seems relevant or authentic.
Then, ask yourself:
“At the end of my life, how will I be glad to have spent my time?”
“What are the characteristics and traits of some of my biggest role models?”
“Which characteristics and traits do I want others to recognize in me?”
Add to your list of values until you’ve captured any values you can think of. The resulting list is your list of personal values.
Select and Optimize Your Habits
How to Select Value-Based Habits
Next, you'll select and optimize the specific habits you’ll add to your daily practice.
Start by reading through your list of values. Then, generate at least one idea for a habit you could do once daily or weekly to embody each value. For example:
If you value learning/gaining knowledge, you could read for at least 20 minutes daily.
If your family is the main value for you, you could have at least one weekly meal as a family with no technology present.
If your spirituality is important, you could meditate once daily.
When you’re brainstorming habit ideas for each value, be sure that:
The habit is specific. Define how long you’ll do it and how often you’ll do it.
The habit isn’t harmful to you or anyone else.
The habit relates to at least one of your core values.
How to Prioritize Value-Based Habits
After you have your list of value-based habits, the next step is to prioritize. Rather than trying to implement all your habits, it's best to start with only one or two. Contrary to what some believe, making lasting behavior changes is difficult. We humans have a status quo bias that causes us to resist change. When we try to make many behavior changes at once, our brains will want to revert to what it's used to.
Use your list of habits and sort them as best you can, from high to low impact. The guiding question is, "Which of these habits will most positively impact my life?" Sort your habit list until they're in order from most impactful to least impactful. This is the order you'll add these habits to your practice.
Start with the first one or two habits on your list. These are the only habits you'll focus on for now. In the next section, you'll learn how to optimize them to make them as easy as possible.
How to Optimize Value-Based Habits
Optimizing a habit is all about making it easier to do. When habits and routines are easier to do, you increase the probability of following through. It's unproductive to stick with a habit for a few weeks and then give up. If your goal is to create lasting, value-oriented habit changes, start easy.
Starting with an "easy" version of your habit doesn’t mean you’ll keep doing it that way forever. Whenever you add a new habit to your daily practice, start with the most accessible version possible. Over time, as you build consistency, you can scale it up. For more help on scaling up habits, see How to Change a Habit or Behavior.
Start with the one or two habits you identified above. These should be one or two habits that would make the most positive impact on your life. Then, optimize each habit to start building your daily practice.
To optimize a habit, do any, some, or all the following:
Make the habit take the least amount of time possible. It’s tempting to start with the full-out version of your habit. But drastic changes are challenging to stay consistent. Instead, make the habit take as little time as possible. Over time, as you build consistency, you can do it for longer periods.
Find the exact place in your schedule to do it. Any new habit must fit into your current life routine to “stick.” New habits that don’t fit your existing routine will not likely stay consistent over the long term. Find an existing activity already in your practice. Then, use it as a prompt for the new habit, doing it either right before or right after the existing habit.
Create a prompt to remind you to do it. All habits need a prompt. Create a specific prompt that will notify you that it’s time to do the habit. You can use your phone or a visual cue in your environment to create a prompt. Be sure it nudges you exactly when you need to do the new habit.
Make the habit less physically demanding. If possible, make the habit easier from a physical standpoint. You could reduce the effort, the amount of stress, or the challenges the habit requires.
Make the habit less mentally/emotionally demanding. Consider the aspects that make a habit difficult from a mental/emotional standpoint. Then, if possible, change the habit to reduce these variables.
Once you’ve made your top one or two habits as easy as possible, it’s time to start your value-based daily practice.
Start Your Practice and Track Your Progress
At this point, you should have the following:
A list of all your personal values
At least one specific habit for each value
Easy versions of the top one or two habits
Specific prompts for those one or two habits
Start doing the optimized versions of your top one or two habits on the first day. Do them immediately when you encounter the prompt. Don't worry about your other habits. You should focus on following through with the top one or two habits you identified above.
One factor that will likely affect your consistency is your motivation. Some days you'll want to do the habit, and others, you won't. But one of the best ways to maintain your motivation over time is to track your progress. Knowing how long and how often you’ve been sticking to a habit can be a powerful motivator.
An easy way to track your daily practice is to use a habit-tracking app like Way of Life. Way of Life lets you create a value-based daily practice, add prompts, and track whether you did them. Over time, Way of Life will build chains representing how consistent you’ve been with your habits.
Another simple way to track your progress is using a calendar or notebook. Log the date, the habit, and whether you did it or not. Return to your notebook every week and review how you did. If you're on track, consider if you should scale up one or both habits. If you're inconsistent, consider ways to make the habit even easier.
Incorporate the Rest of Your Habits
After several weeks or months, you'll reach a point of long-term consistency. You might've kept a habit going for some time and are considering if you should add the next habit on your list. When you reach this point, return to your list, pick the third habit, and optimize it. Use the optimization strategies above and add the third habit to your practice. Continue to track your progress and optimize habits based on your consistency. Then, add the next habit whenever you feel ready and have proven consistency. Continue this process until you've added all your habits in your list.
Need Help Creating Your Own Value-Based Daily Practice?
Send me an email at gabe@learnchangedo.org to get some help with or ask a question about creating your own value-based daily practice.