A Values-Based Mindfulness Practice

Stop for a moment.

That's how this section opens in Start With Values, and it's the whole instruction, really. The practice below — the one the book points readers to — takes about five minutes, requires nothing but a place to sit, and does two jobs at once: it settles your nervous system, and it anchors your identity to a value you've chosen.

That second part is what makes it different from generic meditation, and it's worth understanding before you begin.

Why meditate on a value?

Meditation on its own has a solid evidence base. A landmark meta-analysis of 47 trials with 3,515 participants, published in JAMA Internal Medicine by Goyal and colleagues, found that mindfulness meditation programs produced meaningful improvements in anxiety, depression and pain. Not a miracle cure — the effects are moderate — but real, replicated, and achievable in weeks rather than years. A calm, focused mind is also a practical asset: it's the state in which thoughtful decisions become possible and knee-jerk reactions lose their grip.

Values affirmation has its own evidence base. In a study published in Psychological Science, Creswell and colleagues found that people who actively affirmed their personal values showed significantly lower cortisol responses to a lab stress challenge. Reflecting on what matters to you isn't sentimental — it measurably buffers your stress physiology.

This practice simply combines the two. You calm the system, and then — while the water is still — you drop in a single, deliberate thought: I am a [value] person. If your value is kindness: I am a kind person. Peace: I am a peaceful person. This is identity work, not goal-setting. You're not striving toward the value; you're affirming that it's already yours, and letting your mind rehearse what living it looks like. Do this regularly and the value stops being a word on a list and starts becoming a default — which is exactly how values under pressure hold instead of collapsing.

Before you start

Pick one of your top three values to meditate on. (If you haven't named them yet, discover your values first — or take the free assessment, which does it in under nine minutes.)

If you're arriving stressed, take a moment of what the Resilience Institute calls Tactical Calm: breathe in for four seconds, out for six. The longer exhale activates the parasympathetic nervous system — your built-in brake.

The practice

From the book, step by step. Five minutes is a good starting point.

1. Sit comfortably in a place where you feel at ease.
2. Set an intention: which of your top three core values will you meditate on?
3. Set an alarm, if you wish. Five minutes is a good starting point.
4. Breathe in for four seconds and out for six seconds. Do this six times, then allow your breath to flow naturally.
5. Notice the sounds around you. Accept them. Let them go.
6. Notice your breathing. Tune into the natural rise and fall of your chest.
7. Notice your thoughts. Accept them. Let them go.
8. Give yourself a smile.
9. Consider your core value. Affirm your values-based identity by mentally stating, "I am a [value] person." For example: "I am a peaceful person."
10. Visualize yourself acting in alignment with this value. Be specific — conjure a detailed situation in your mind's eye.
11. Now let go of the visualization. Give yourself a smile.
12. Notice your breathing. Tune into the rise and fall of your chest.
13. Notice your thoughts. Accept them. Let them go.
14. Give yourself a smile.
15. Notice the sounds around you.
16. Wiggle your fingers and toes, then gently open your eyes.

That's it. No app required, no incense, no hour of silence. Steps 9 and 10 are the heart of it — the affirmation and the mental rehearsal. Everything around them is simply creating the conditions for those two moments to land.

Making it stick

A practice you do once is an experience; a practice you repeat is an identity. A few ways to make this one stay:

• Anchor it to something you already do. After the kettle goes on, before the first meeting, when you park the car. Attaching a new habit to an existing cue is the core move of values-based micro-habits.
• Rotate your values. Monday might be "I am a creative person"; Thursday, "I am a patient one." Each value gets its turn being rehearsed.
• Use it before decisions. A clear mind weighs options better — and is far less vulnerable to the cognitive biases that bend decisions. Five minutes of this practice before working through the Decision Matrix is a genuinely powerful combination.
• Notice, don't judge. Some sessions your mind will wander the entire time. That's not failure; noticing the wandering is the practice.

How do you feel after dedicating a few mindful moments to one of your core values? If the answer is even slightly better than before — that's the signal. Follow it.