Good Values Test

Manson argues that what wears you down is rarely the event itself. It is the yardstick you use to judge it, and values are those yardsticks. Bad values include being liked by everyone, never failing, and earning more than the neighbors. Each one fails at least one part of the test. It rests on feelings or fantasy instead of evidence, it sets you against other people, or it hinges on something outside your hands, like other people's opinions. Even when a bad value is met, it rarely satisfies, because the target keeps moving. Good values include honesty, keeping your word, getting better at your craft, and being useful to someone. You can check them, they make life better for the people near you, and you can meet them today through your own actions. Change the metric and your emotional weather changes with it. The test doesn't tell you what to care about. It tells you whether a value can carry the weight you put on it.