MINDSET

Weeks to result

The Good Values / Bad Values Filter

Good values are internal and controllable; bad values are external and uncontrollable

values decision-making ethics internal locus of control character

Problem it solves

limiting beliefs

Best for

People who feel perpetually dissatisfied despite achieving goals, those who keep chasing external validation, anyone reassessing their priorities after a life disruption

Not ideal for

People who have already done deep values clarification work and need execution support rather than philosophical reframing

Overview

Why this framework exists

Manson provides a clear diagnostic for distinguishing values that lead to fulfilling lives from those that lead to chronic dissatisfaction. Good values have three characteristics: they are reality-based, socially constructive, and immediate and controllable. Bad values are superstitious, socially destructive, and not immediate or controllable.

Honesty, creativity, humility, curiosity, and standing up for others are examples of good values—you can practice them right now regardless of your circumstances. Popularity, material wealth for its own sake, always being right, constant pleasure, and dominance are examples of bad values—they depend on external factors and often require manipulating or diminishing others.

Critically, Manson identifies four specific 'shitty values' that modern culture promotes as aspirational but that reliably create poor problems: pleasure, material success, always being right, and staying positive. Each of these sounds reasonable on the surface but fails the filter test because they're either outside your control, disconnected from reality, or socially destructive when prioritized above all else.

Core principles

5 total

Good values are reality-based, socially constructive, and immediate and controllable.
Bad values are superstitious, socially destructive, and not immediate or controllable.
Pleasure, material success, always being right, and staying positive are poor primary values.
When you choose better values, you get better problems, and better problems lead to a better life.
Good values are achieved internally; bad values are generally reliant on external events.

Steps

4 steps

List your current operating values
Write down the five to ten things you currently prioritize most in your decisions and behavior. Be honest—include the values that drive your actual behavior, not just the ones that sound noble. If you spend most of your time seeking approval, 'being liked' is an operating value whether you admit it or not.
Pro tipLook at how you spend your time and money to discover your actual values. Your calendar and bank statement reveal your real priorities more than any journal entry.
Run each value through the three-part filter
For each value, ask three questions. Is it reality-based or superstitious/delusional? Is it socially constructive or does it require diminishing others? Is it immediately controllable by you or dependent on external factors? A value that fails any of these tests is a candidate for replacement.
WarningMany culturally celebrated values—wealth, fame, popularity, constant happiness—fail this filter. Be prepared to question deeply ingrained assumptions.
Replace bad values with good alternatives
For each value that fails the filter, identify a closely related value that passes it. If you value 'being rich,' the related good value might be 'being financially responsible' or 'creating value for others.' If you value 'being liked by everyone,' the related good value might be 'being honest in my interactions.'
Pro tipGood values often feel less exciting than bad ones. That's because they require effort and vulnerability rather than external validation. The feeling of mundanity is actually a good sign.
Align your daily decisions with your new values
Begin making daily decisions through the lens of your revised values. When faced with a choice, ask which option aligns with values that are internal, controllable, and constructive. This will feel awkward and counterintuitive at first.
Pro tipStart with small daily decisions before tackling major life choices. Build the habit of values-based decision-making gradually.
WarningChanging values will change your behavior, which will change your relationships. Some people in your life benefited from your old values and will resist the change.

Checklist

Saved in your browser

For each of my top five values, does it pass the filter: reality-based, socially constructive, immediately controllable?
Am I prioritizing pleasure, material success, being right, or constant positivity above all else?
Can I practice my most important value right now, regardless of my external circumstances?
Do my values require diminishing or manipulating other people to be fulfilled?
If I lived by these values for the next decade, would the resulting problems be ones I'd be willing to engage with?

Examples

2 cases

Hiroo Onoda's destructive loyalty

Japanese soldier Hiroo Onoda held the value of absolute loyalty to the empire so strongly that he continued fighting World War II on a remote Philippine island for nearly thirty years after the war ended. He killed innocent civilians and refused to believe the war was over despite being shown newspapers and letters. His value was internally coherent but utterly disconnected from reality and socially destructive.

OutcomeOnoda's story demonstrates that holding a value with perfect conviction doesn't make it a good value. His life was objectively terrible by every measure except his own delusional metric of military duty.

The four shitty values in action

Manson catalogues how prioritizing pleasure leads to addiction and instability, prioritizing material success leads to shallow and exploitative behavior, prioritizing always being right prevents learning and empathy, and prioritizing staying positive leads to denial and emotional dysfunction. Each creates problems that compound rather than resolve.

OutcomeResearch confirms that people who prioritize superficial pleasures are more anxious and depressed, and that beyond basic physical needs, additional material wealth has negligible impact on happiness.

Common mistakes

3 traps

Treating bad values as goals to be achieved rather than orientations to be abandoned

The point is not to achieve pleasure and then move on, or to get rich and then pivot. Bad values warp your relationship with reality regardless of whether you achieve them. The framework requires changing what you orient around, not just hitting milestones.

Forcing constant positivity as a value

Manson explicitly identifies 'staying positive' as a shitty value. Denying negative emotions prevents you from engaging with the problems those emotions are signaling. Negative emotions are necessary components of emotional health.

Confusing good values with comfortable values

Good values like honesty, vulnerability, and humility often require confronting uncomfortable truths. They are not the easy path—they are simply the path that generates better problems.

Origin story

How this framework came to be

Manson develops this framework through the contrasting stories of Hiroo Onoda, Dave Mustaine, and Pete Best. Onoda's value of absolute loyalty to the Japanese empire kept him fighting a phantom war on a remote island for thirty years, murdering innocent civilians. Mustaine's value of being more successful than Metallica tormented him despite selling 25 million records. Best's value of family and simple contentment made him happier than the actual Beatles. These real cases demonstrate that the choice of values—not the achievement of goals—determines the quality of one's life.

Source

Traced to primary

Source · BOOK

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F ck (The Subtle Art of Not

Mark Manson · 2016

Open source →

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