Excavate core values before writing goals

Identify what you most fundamentally care about before deciding what you want — or goals will be other people’s.

Why it works

Self-concordance theory (Sheldon & Elliot) shows that goals pursued for intrinsic or identified reasons (genuine alignment with values) produce more sustained effort, higher well-being on attainment, and more persistent pursuit after setbacks than goals pursued for external or introjected reasons. Values-excavation before goal-setting increases the probability that goals pass the self-concordance test.

How to do it

1. Set a timer for 15 minutes and write freely: "What I most deeply care about, when I strip away what I should care about, is ___."
2. Read what you wrote and identify the three to five values that appear most frequently or feel most charged.
3. For each value, write one real example of a time you honored it — this separates genuine values from aspirational ones.
4. Use only values confirmed by real examples as the foundation for your future-life narrative.

Evidence

Self-concordance theory is supported by multiple studies showing that intrinsically motivated goals produce greater attainment and well-being than externally motivated ones. Sheldon and Houser-Marko (2001) further demonstrated an upward spiral, where attaining self-concordant goals raises well-being, which in turn supports selecting more self-concordant goals. (observational)

Most self-concordance research measures goal orientation at baseline and tracks outcomes; the specific writing exercise that increases self-concordance is the broader life-crafting intervention context.

Sources

• Sheldon & Elliot (1999), goal striving, need satisfaction, and longitudinal well-being, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
• Sheldon, K. M., & Elliot, A. J. (1999). Goal striving, need satisfaction, and longitudinal well-being: The self-concordance model. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76(3), 482-497.
• Sheldon, K. M., & Houser-Marko, L. (2001). Self-concordance, goal attainment, and the pursuit of happiness: Can there be an upward spiral? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80(1), 152-165.

Common mistake

Listing values from a pre-made list ("honesty, growth, connection") without testing each against actual memory — borrowed values produce goal lists that look good but do not sustain motivation.