Reflection guide5–7 minutes6 sections

Working Out What Matters

Begin step 1

Working Out What Matters is a short visual guide for moments connected to personal values.

It covers one core idea: values change with the stage of life and require periodic reconciliation.

You will choose three values and complete the phrase: “Today I will express this through...”, then choose what fits next.

The aim is a clearer direction for decisions under uncertainty.

Edited asreflection guide·6 focused visual steps
Working edition 1Published July 22, 2026Last reviewed August 2, 2026Editorial standardsSuggest a correction
01
A person looking across a wide, misty landscape from a safe overlook at early morning.

Step 1 of 6

Check your starting point: Working Out What Matters

When you want more than relief—you want to know which direction matters…

Notice what fits this situation today:

  • Values are a direction, not a destination
  • Consistency with values fluctuates
  • Regular reconciliation corrects the course
  • I am not sure yet—I just want to understand
Next: Values change with the stage of life and require periodic reconciliation
02
A person looking across a wide, misty landscape from a safe overlook at early morning.

Step 2 of 6

Values change with the stage of life and require periodic reconciliation

  • Values change with the stage of life and require periodic reconciliation.
  • They describe not a desired outcome, but a quality of presence, contribution, and mode of action.
  • Linking goals to values creates a daily sense of direction even without a guarantee of outcome.
Next: Map the pattern: Working Out What Matters
03
A person looking across a wide, misty landscape from a safe overlook at early morning.

Step 3 of 6

Map the pattern: Working Out What Matters

Look at the moving parts of Working Out What Matters one at a time:

  • Values are a direction, not a destination.
  • Consistency with values fluctuates.
  • Regular reconciliation corrects the course.
Next: Choose three values and complete the phrase: “Today I will express this through...”
04
A person looking across a wide, misty landscape from a safe overlook at early morning.

Step 4 of 6

Choose three values and complete the phrase: “Today I will express this through...”

  • Pause for a few seconds. Check whether this practice feels safe enough right now.
  • Choose three values and complete the phrase: “Today I will express this through...”.
  • Notice what changed in your body or thoughts. Do not grade yourself—collect information.

Quick check after the practice:

  • What changed, even by 1%?
  • What stayed the same?
  • What do you need now: continue, stop, or ask someone for support?
Next: What this may change: Working Out What Matters
05
A person looking across a wide, misty landscape from a safe overlook at early morning.

Step 5 of 6

What this may change: Working Out What Matters

A clearer direction for decisions under uncertainty.

The useful shift is more clarity, less autopilot, and one available choice.

Next: Choose a next step: Working Out What Matters
06
A person looking across a wide, misty landscape from a safe overlook at early morning.

Step 6 of 6

Choose a next step: Working Out What Matters

You do not have to resolve this whole situation today. You worked directly with “Working Out What Matters” and chose one possible response.

Choose what fits now:

  • “Save one next step”
  • “Come back later”
  • “I need support from a person”

After this guide

Keep the next step small.

A clearer direction for decisions under uncertainty.

Where to go next

Choose the next useful idea

Choose one if it fits what you need now.

Sources & evidence

Where this guide comes from

The book is the editorial starting point. The research below checks or qualifies the broader ideas used in this guide.

Adapted from

Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before?

Chapter 33, “Working Out What Matters” · source pages 244–251

View publisher record (opens in a new tab)
Written by
Julie Smith (opens in a new tab)Clinical psychologist with NHS and private-practice experience; not a medical doctor.
Edition used
Michael Joseph, an imprint of Penguin Random House UK, 2022 · ISBN 9780241529737
Formal review
The edition does not identify a formal peer-review or clinical-review panel. Publisher praise is not formal review.
Public endorsements — not formal review

Lori Gottlieb (opens in a new tab) — Psychotherapist and author

Editorial limitations of this book source
  • Broad popular self-help reference, not an individualized formulation or treatment plan.
  • Exercises involving exposure, breathing, nutrition, or inward attention are not suitable for every reader.
  • Scientific claims paraphrased for a general audience still need claim-level checking against primary research.
  • The source PDF contains an unrelated and medically unreliable second book after page 308; that material is excluded.

Research context

Supporting and qualifying references

Reviewed 2026-08-04

  1. 01

    Randomized Controlled Trial · 2023

    Effects and Mechanisms of a Web- and Mobile-Based Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Intervention for Anxiety and Depression Symptoms in Nurses (opens in a new tab)

    What it supports: A structured ACT program improved symptoms in nurses, with psychological flexibility, defusion, and values among studied mechanisms.

    Limits and disclosures

    Limit: Single occupational sample, wait-list comparison, attrition, and a multi-component program; does not validate isolated values prompts.

    Disclosure: No product-specific conflict identified in the PubMed record.

  2. 02

    Peer Reviewed Meta Analysis · 2023

    Effects of Self-Compassion Interventions on Reducing Depressive Symptoms, Anxiety, and Stress: A Meta-Analysis (opens in a new tab)

    What it supports: Self-compassion interventions had small-to-medium immediate effects on depression, anxiety, and stress across included RCTs.

    Limits and disclosures

    Limit: Overall risk of bias was high and evidence against active controls was limited.

    Disclosure: No product-specific conflict identified.