Friday, September 09, 2005

What's Most Important to You?

This is an exercise we did in my class last night. We actually did two exercises that I really loved, because they were both those kinds of exercises that are about self-exploration and self-discovery...I LOVE those things! Anyways, this one I really want to share because I agree with my professor that I think it is something we should all continually check up with ourself on. It is an exploring your values exercise, and contrary to what you may think, you values can and most likely will change up some, or even dramatically throughout your lifetime. Because of this, it is healthy to reevaluate where you stand from time to time.

So here is the exercise: Here is the list of 17 values that was listed on our handout and you need to pick your top 5 values and put them in order from 1 to 5 with 1 being the most important value to you.
  • LOYALTY: maintaining important connections and commitments
  • POWER: having authority and influence
  • INDEPENDENCE: having freedom of though and action
  • EDUCATION: continuing growth in knowledge and skills
  • RECOGNITION: receiving recognition for achievements
  • EMOTIONAL WELL-BEING: solving emotional problems and maintaining self-esteem
  • SPIRITUAL WELL-BEING: living according to my spiritual beliefs
  • PHYSICAL WELL-BEING: taking care of my body
  • SEXUAL FULFILLMENT: feeling good about myself sexually
  • QUALITY MARRIAGE OR RELATIONSHIP: having a marriage or relationship that is a source of love and fulfillment
  • LOVE: loving and being loved
  • SUCCESS AND ACHIEVEMENT: being able to do things really well
  • PLEASURE OR JOY: enjoying the joys and pleasures in my life
  • FAMILY: maintaining family traditions and background
  • PARENTHOOD: having and taking care of children as a source of fulfillment
  • AESTHETICS: having beauty in my surroundings
  • ACCEPTANCE: being accepted by people who are important to me

You obviously are not required to share your list with the rest of us, but feel free too, as I have listed my top 5 values in the comment section already. I find it is interesting to see what people hold as true values to themselves. It is our values that tend to guide our lives!

NOTE: I highly encourage you to make your list and rankings BEFORE going to the comment section to view other people's rankings. Though we don't always think so, we as humans can be influenced even when we think we stand firm in our beliefs.

4 comments:

FeedingYourMind said...

Okay, now that you've hopefully already come up with your rankings (whether you are going to post them or not), I want you to look back over your list and think about something.

This was a good point made in my class last night and it is the point that many times we THINK we value something, but we don't tend to act in that manner. Honestly, many times people think they really value some aspect, but their actions don't show it. The perfect example is the value of physical well-being. I'm sure just about all of us would say we value our good health or "well-being" but if that truly is the case, you should be someone that is dedicating your diet to that value and you're exercising to up-hold that value. Is that the case?

It's so easy for us to say, "Well, I just don't have time for exercising, but I truly do value my physical being and health," but believe it or not, if you TRULY do value that aspect in your life, you would make time to exercise.

So, having said this, I still encourage you to share the list that you came up with, EXACTLY as it was before you read this comment by me, but then just spend some time with yourself thinking about if your life and actions DEMONSTRATE the values that you "say" you have. It is an interesting thought! =)

FeedingYourMind said...

Okay, here is the list of values I came up with for myself last night in my class. In order:

1. Love
2. Acceptance
3. Emotional well-being
4. Education
5. Independence

Ellison said...

Very interesting.

Here are my top five:
1 - Spiritual
2 - Love
3 - Family
4 - Marriage/relationship
5 - Success

Anonymous said...

1. Spiritual Well-Being
2. Love
3. Family
4. Quality Marriage or Relationship
5. Success and Achievement