Howdy Human Method
The Values-In-Action Audit
A short-answer practice for noticing what your life is already doing, what it feels like to do it, and what values those patterns may be trying to serve.
The Values-In-Action Audit starts with the Howdy Human premise that values become visible through verbs. Instead of asking someone to choose a perfect list of ideals, it asks them to look at ordinary evidence: what they repeat, where their time goes, who receives their care, what they consume, how their space is arranged, what their work serves, and how their money moves.
The method adds one more layer: vibes. A verb tells you what happened. A vibe helps you understand the emotional tone around it. Together, verbs and vibes make values easier to recognize without turning self-reflection into a performance.
How to Use the Audit
Answer quickly. Short answers are better than polished ones. The goal is not to prove you are good, aligned, disciplined, generous, creative, or evolved. The goal is to collect honest clues. Once the clues are visible, you can translate them into possible values and choose the next verb with more intention.
- Write the plain action. Use a concrete verb: called, avoided, cleaned, bought, practiced, watched, donated, postponed, asked, supported.
- Name the vibe. Notice what was present before, during, and after: pressure, relief, tenderness, tightness, pride, resentment, calm, depletion, excitement, steadiness.
- Infer the value. Ask what the action may have been trying to serve: safety, connection, creativity, responsibility, freedom, beauty, care, stability, self-respect.
- Check the strategy. A behavior can point to a real value even when the strategy needs adjustment.
- Choose one next verb. Let the value become something observable again.
Core question: What value was this action trying to serve, and did the vibe around it feel aligned, protective, performative, nourishing, or misdirected?
The Seven Audit Pillars
These short-answer questions are adapted from the June 4 Howdy Human lifestyle audit draft. Use them as a weekly reflection, a coaching prompt, a team conversation, or a private check-in when your stated values and lived patterns feel out of sync.
Habits
Consistency and intention: what patterns dominate automated behavior?
- What are three things you do every day without fail?
- What habit did you actively stop in the last year, and why?
- When stressed, what is your go-to activity?
- What is the first thing you do after waking and the last thing before sleep?
- What skill did you practice for 30 minutes this week?
Time Spent
Allocation and prioritization: where are attention and energy really going?
- How many hours went to a passion project or personal growth this week?
- What was the most common calendar activity this month?
- What do you procrastinate on, and what do you do instead?
- What was yesterday's most satisfying hour, and why?
- Who or what took unexpected time last week?
Relationships
Connection and investment: who receives intentional energy?
- Name three people you had meaningful, non-transactional conversations with this week.
- What friction keeps repeating in your closest relationship?
- How did you support or encourage someone this week?
- When you need advice, who do you call first, and why?
- What quality do you look for in a new friend or colleague?
Content Consumption
Input and influence: what are you feeding your mind?
- What did you last finish reading, watching, or listening to, and what did you learn?
- What creator, channel, newsletter, or source do you check daily?
- How many hours went to pure entertainment this week?
- What content do you immediately dismiss, and why?
- What have you searched for repeatedly because it keeps returning to mind?
Physical Environment
Setting and support: how does space reflect and support priorities?
- What is the clearest area in your primary workspace, and what is its purpose?
- What item did you pay extra for because of quality, design, or ethics?
- What area of your home are you trying to improve right now?
- What have you donated, removed, repaired, or released this month?
- Where do you go when you need to think or create alone?
Work
Purpose and action: how do daily tasks connect to mission?
- What was the most challenging task you completed this week, and what value did it serve?
- If you had one bonus work hour today, where would it go?
- What compliment do you receive most often from colleagues or clients?
- What part of work feels like play?
- What non-financial signal defines a successful workday?
Financial
Resources and future: where do resources flow, and what future are they building?
- What was your last non-essential purchase over $100, and why?
- What is your largest automatic monthly transfer or subscription?
- How much financial energy is short-term need versus long-term direction?
- In one sentence, what is the purpose of money in your life right now?
- Where are you actively trying to spend less?
Vibe Vocabulary
Vibes are not proof by themselves, but they keep the audit honest. They help separate a real value from a tactic that may be outdated, protective, performative, or misaligned.
A Quick Translation Example
A single answer can move through the whole method in under a minute.
The next question is not "Was cleaning good or bad?" The better question is "What was cleaning trying to make possible?" If the answer is peace, the next verb might be to simplify. If it is control, the next verb might be to pause. If it is creativity, the next verb might be to begin the draft once the space feels usable enough.
Keep translating. Use the values-as-verbs framework to understand the method, then use the Howdy Human Dictionary of Values to look up the value words your audit reveals.