How often do you think about the sum total of your life? How often do you stop to
reflect on exactly what it is that you are living for? What motivates you to do the things you do? I invite you to take a few moments to think about it. It?s worth doing from time to time, to see if you are really spending time on what is most important to you. It is possible to drift from event to event with no life goal in mind, but most of us can name what is most important to us, if we have to. Do you want to be wise? Or do you want to have peace of mind? Do you want great love? How about fame and fortune or pleasure? Providing for your family, perhaps? How about happiness? Self-respect? Creating or appreciating beauty?
Perhaps you’d want to echo the sentiments of 50 Cent (i.e ?Get Rich or Die Tryin?.? That?s a popular life goal, though probably not yours.
Following two lists were devised to help you gain some insight into what you value. Each list names eighteen values. Your task here is to rank them in importance.
It might be helpful for you to rank the most important first, then the least important last. The middle values are usually the most difficult to rank, so working on the two extremes first will be quite helpful.
Take your time with this and give a great deal of thought to what each of these values to you.
ROKEACH’S TERMINAL VALUES
- A Comfortable Life (a prosperous life) :: ( 10 -> 7 )
- An Exciting Life (a stimulating, active life) :: (3 -> 2 )
- A Sense of Accomplishment (lasting contribution) :: ( 5 -> 5 )
- A World at Peace (free of war and conflict) :: ( 17 -> 16 )
- A World of Beauty (beauty of nature and the arts) :: ( 6 -> 11 )
- Equality (brotherhood, equal opportunity for all) :: ( 14 -> 15 )
- Family Security (taking care of loved ones) :: ( 11 -> 6 )
- Freedom (independence, free choices) :: ( 4 -> 4 )
- Happiness (contentedness) :: ( 1 -> 1 )
- Inner Harmony (freedom from inner conflict) :: ( 13 -> 12 )
- Mature Love (sexual and spiritual intimacy) :: ( 8 -> 8 )
- National Security (protection from attack) :: ( 16 -> 17 )
- Pleasure (an enjoyable, leisurely life) :: ( 7 -> 9 )
- Salvation (saved, eternal life) :: ( 18 -> 18 )
- Self-respect (feeling good about oneself) :: ( 9 -> 3 )
- Social Recognition (respect, admiration) :: ( 15 -> 14 )
- True Friendship (close companionship) :: ( 2 -> 10 )
- Wisdom (a mature understanding of life) :: ( 12 -> 13 )
I took this exercise in Psyc class back in junior college almost 10 years ago. I took it again just reciently and my values are noted before and after each value (Then -> Now)… Interseting that National Security was never or is still not close to the top but my Freedoms are still very important to me. Ultimately I want to be happy, have an exciting time on this ride called life, and accomplish something (otherwise what’s the point). Love/Sex, Pleasure and Family are still up there as well.