Your values are the "why" behind your decisions. Not goals you're working toward or strengths you're leveraging — values are what you stand for. They're the principles that guide you when life gets complicated and trade-offs are real. Most of us have an intuitive sense of our values, but we rarely take the time to name them explicitly. MakeTimeFlow helps you do that — and then puts those values to work across the entire system. --- ## Why Choosing Your Top 3 Matters Many values will resonate with you. That's the point — they're all good things. But the power comes from constraint. When you declare just three values, you create a lens for daily decision-making: - "Should I work late or go to my kid's game?" is easier when you've already declared **Family** as a top-3 value. - "Should I take the safe path or try something new?" has a clearer answer when **Courage** is on your list. - "Should I say yes to this commitment?" becomes simpler when you know whether it aligns with what you've named as most important. The constraint isn't about excluding what matters — it's about being honest with yourself about what matters *most*, right now. --- ## The Values Explorer MakeTimeFlow offers 27 carefully curated values organized into five categories: **Personal Character** — Authenticity, Courage, Discipline, Humility, Perseverance **Growth & Learning** — Creativity, Curiosity, Adaptability, Wisdom, Independence **Relationships & Care** — Compassion, Family, Friendship, Gratitude, Honesty, Kindness, Respect **Work & Impact** — Collaboration, Excellence, Innovation, Justice, Responsibility, Service **Wellbeing & Meaning** — Balance, Faith, Joyfulness, Mindfulness The categories help you scan, but don't constrain your choices — pick any three from any combination of categories. Each value has a short definition you can tap to read. These definitions add breadth and inclusiveness, helping you see beyond the single word. ### Adding Your Own If none of the 27 curated values quite capture what drives you, you can add a custom value. Give it a name and, optionally, describe what it means to you. Custom values are first-class — they work exactly like the curated ones across the entire system. --- ## How MakeTimeFlow Uses Your Values Once you've named your values, they become part of who the system understands you to be: ### AI Coaching Every conversation with your AI coach becomes values-aware. Task suggestions, success story creation, experiment ideas — all get colored by what you've explicitly said matters to you. ### Weekly Reviews During your [[Review Rhythm|WRAP ritual]], your coach can surface patterns: "Your top value is Family, but this week had zero family-related tasks. Was that intentional?" These aren't judgments — they're invitations to reflect. ### Goal Setting When you're creating [[Getting Started with Goals|Success Stories]] or choosing [[Smart Bets]], your values provide natural direction. A value of Creativity might lead to a quarterly goal around a creative project. A value of Service might shape how you think about your community contributions. ### Daily Decisions Values act as a quiet filter on your daily task selection. When you're choosing what to focus on, the system can help you notice whether your time is flowing toward or away from what you've declared matters most. --- ## Exploring Your Values ### During Onboarding When you first set up MakeTimeFlow, you'll have the opportunity to choose your top 3 values as part of the onboarding flow. This is intentionally quick — tap to select, done. You can always go deeper later. ### On the Values Page Visit your values page anytime to explore more deeply. Here you can: - **Select up to 5 values** — room for deeper reflection - **Add personal meaning** — write what a value means to you specifically - **Start Fresh** — clear your selections and choose again with fresh eyes. Your previous picks are shown in a subtle reference section so you can pull from them or choose entirely differently - **Explore with AI** — start a voice conversation to discover what matters most through guided reflection ### Through Conversation Ask your AI coach to help you explore your values. The coach can guide you through questions like: - "If you had to sacrifice one priority for another, which would you protect?" - "When have you felt most aligned with who you want to be?" - "What would you want people to say about what you stood for?" --- ## Revisiting Your Values Values aren't static. A major life change — a new child, a career shift, a loss — can reshape what matters most. Even without dramatic change, your values naturally evolve as you grow. MakeTimeFlow supports this with the "Start Fresh" approach: when you revisit your values, you can begin with a blank slate while still seeing what you chose before. This mirrors the "blank paper thinking" pattern from reflections — fresh perspective with optional recall. There's no right cadence for re-evaluation. Some people revisit quarterly during their success story planning. Others wait until something feels off. Trust your instinct. --- ## Related - [[Know Yourself]] — The foundation: values, strengths, and relationships - [[Strengths]] — What you're great at and enjoy doing - [[Relationships]] — Who matters and how to protect those connections - [[Flourishing Map]] — How values connect to the Meaning & Purpose domain - [[Aligned Action Framework]] — How self-knowledge feeds your daily decisions