60-second daily values check
End each workday with a sixty-second values check by asking what your priorities today revealed about your actual values, writing one sentence without elaboration or judgment, then after seven days analyze the pattern to identify your operational value system.
When This Fires
- At the end of each workday as a 60-second closing practice
- When stated values feel disconnected from daily reality
- As input to Audit your last seven days of behavior against stated… (behavioral audit) and Your operating principles must explain your actual… (operational principles matching behavior)
- Complements After recurring activities, spend 60 seconds recording… (60-second post-activity observation) with the daily values-specific check
Common Failure Mode
Over-elaboration: the "one sentence" becomes a paragraph of justification. Keep it to one sentence. "Today I valued social approval over creative risk." Done. The pattern emerges from accumulation, not from individual depth.
The Protocol
(1) At the end of each workday (set a trigger — Agent triggers must be observable or measurable — vague…), write one sentence: "Today, my priorities revealed that I actually value [what behavior showed] over [what was deprioritized]." (2) No elaboration. No judgment. One sentence, 60 seconds maximum. (3) After 7 consecutive days: read all 7 sentences in one sitting. (4) Look for patterns: what values appeared repeatedly? What values never appeared despite being stated as important? What's the gap between operational and stated values? (5) The pattern IS your operational value system. Use it to recalibrate stated values (Validate your values hierarchy against 3 past decisions…) or restructure behavior to match stated values (Block Q2 tasks on the calendar with specific day+hour…).