I have a therapist who helps me specifically with my illness. She gave me this fun worksheet to fill out: "Well, I just lifted it from somewhere really." It is a free worksheet from Russ Harris, and I found it very interesting to do. I have recreated it here.
Read the values below and rate each one according to the following key:
N - Not so Important.
Q - Quite Important.
V - Very Important.
It's a good idea to find at least 10 that are Very Important, otherwise I think everyone would be a bit worried that you don't value much in your life.
N - Not so Important.
Q - Quite Important.
V - Very Important.
It's a good idea to find at least 10 that are Very Important, otherwise I think everyone would be a bit worried that you don't value much in your life.
1. Acceptance: to be open to and accepting of myself, others, life etc.
2. Adventure: to be adventurous; to actively seek, create, or explore novel or stimulating experiences.
3. Assertiveness: to respectfully stand up for my rights and request what I want.
4. Authenticity: to be authentic, genuine, real; to be true to myself.
5. Beauty: to appreciate, create, nurture or cultivate beauty in myself, others, the environment etc.
6. Caring: to be caring towards myself, others, the environment etc.
7. Challenge: to keep challenging myself to grow, learn, improve.
8. Compassion: to act with kindness towards those who are suffering.
9. Connection: to engage fully in whatever I am doing, and be fully present with others.
10. Contribution: to contribute, help, assist, or make a positive difference to myself or others.
11. Conformity: to be respectful and obedient of rules and obligations.
12. Cooperation: to be cooperative and collaborative with others.
13. Courage: to be courageous or brave; to persist in the face of fear, threat, or difficulty.
14. Creativity: to be creative or innovative.
15. Curiosity: to be curious, open-minded and interested; to explore and discover.
16. Encouragement: to encourage and reward behaviour that I value in myself or others.
17. Equality: to treat others as equal to myself, and vice-versa.
18. Excitement: to seek, create and engage in activities that are exciting, stimulating or thrilling.
19. Fairness: to be fair to myself or others.
20. Fitness: to maintain or improve my fitness; to look after my physical and mental health and wellbeing.
21. Flexibility: to adjust and adapt readily to changing circumstances.
22. Freedom: to live freely; to choose how I live and behave, or help others do likewise.
23. Friendliness: to be friendly, companionable, or agreeable towards others.
24. Forgiveness: to be forgiving towards myself or others.
25. Fun: to be fun-loving; to seek, create, and engage in fun-filled activities.
26. Generosity: to be generous, sharing and giving, to myself or others.
27. Gratitude: to be grateful for and appreciative of the positive aspects of myself, others and life.
28. Honesty: to be honest, truthful, and sincere with myself and others.
29. Humour: to see and appreciate the humorous side of life.
30. Humility: to be humble or modest; to let my achievements speak for themselves.
31. Industry: to be industrious, hard-working, dedicated.
32. Independence: to be self-supportive, and choose my own way of doing things.
33. Intimacy: to open up, reveal, and share myself – emotionally or physically – in my close personal relationships.
34. Justice: to uphold justice and fairness.
35. Kindness: to be kind, compassionate, considerate, nurturing or caring towards myself or others.
36. Love: to act lovingly or affectionately towards myself or others.
37. Mindfulness: to be conscious of, open to, and curious about my here-and-now experience.
38. Order: to be orderly and organized.
39. Open-mindedness: to think things through, see things from other’s points of view, and weigh evidence fairly.
40. Patience: to wait calmly for what I want.
41. Persistence: to continue resolutely, despite problems or difficulties.
42. Pleasure: to create and give pleasure to myself or others.
43. Power: to strongly influence or wield authority over others, e.g. taking charge, leading, organizing.
44. Reciprocity: to build relationships in which there is a fair balance of giving and taking.
45. Respect: to be respectful towards myself or others; to be polite, considerate and show positive regard.
46. Responsibility: to be responsible and accountable for my actions.
47. Romance: to be romantic; to display and express love or strong affection.
48. Safety: to secure, protect, or ensure safety of myself or others.
49. Self-awareness: to be aware of my own thoughts, feelings and actions.
50. Self-care: to look after my health and wellbeing, and get my needs met.
51. Self-development: to keep growing, advancing or improving in knowledge, skills, character, or life experience.
52. Self-control: to act in accordance with my own ideals.
53. Sensuality: to create, explore and enjoy experiences that stimulate the five senses.
54. Sexuality: to explore or express my sexuality.
55. Spirituality: to connect with things bigger than myself.
56. Skilfulness: to continually practice and improve my skills, and apply myself fully when using them.
57. Supportiveness: to be supportive, helpful, encouraging, and available to myself or others.
58. Trust: to be trustworthy; to be loyal, faithful, sincere, and reliable.
59. Insert your own unlisted value:
60. Insert your own unlisted value:
2. Adventure: to be adventurous; to actively seek, create, or explore novel or stimulating experiences.
3. Assertiveness: to respectfully stand up for my rights and request what I want.
4. Authenticity: to be authentic, genuine, real; to be true to myself.
5. Beauty: to appreciate, create, nurture or cultivate beauty in myself, others, the environment etc.
6. Caring: to be caring towards myself, others, the environment etc.
7. Challenge: to keep challenging myself to grow, learn, improve.
8. Compassion: to act with kindness towards those who are suffering.
9. Connection: to engage fully in whatever I am doing, and be fully present with others.
10. Contribution: to contribute, help, assist, or make a positive difference to myself or others.
11. Conformity: to be respectful and obedient of rules and obligations.
12. Cooperation: to be cooperative and collaborative with others.
13. Courage: to be courageous or brave; to persist in the face of fear, threat, or difficulty.
14. Creativity: to be creative or innovative.
15. Curiosity: to be curious, open-minded and interested; to explore and discover.
16. Encouragement: to encourage and reward behaviour that I value in myself or others.
17. Equality: to treat others as equal to myself, and vice-versa.
18. Excitement: to seek, create and engage in activities that are exciting, stimulating or thrilling.
19. Fairness: to be fair to myself or others.
20. Fitness: to maintain or improve my fitness; to look after my physical and mental health and wellbeing.
21. Flexibility: to adjust and adapt readily to changing circumstances.
22. Freedom: to live freely; to choose how I live and behave, or help others do likewise.
23. Friendliness: to be friendly, companionable, or agreeable towards others.
24. Forgiveness: to be forgiving towards myself or others.
25. Fun: to be fun-loving; to seek, create, and engage in fun-filled activities.
26. Generosity: to be generous, sharing and giving, to myself or others.
27. Gratitude: to be grateful for and appreciative of the positive aspects of myself, others and life.
28. Honesty: to be honest, truthful, and sincere with myself and others.
29. Humour: to see and appreciate the humorous side of life.
30. Humility: to be humble or modest; to let my achievements speak for themselves.
31. Industry: to be industrious, hard-working, dedicated.
32. Independence: to be self-supportive, and choose my own way of doing things.
33. Intimacy: to open up, reveal, and share myself – emotionally or physically – in my close personal relationships.
34. Justice: to uphold justice and fairness.
35. Kindness: to be kind, compassionate, considerate, nurturing or caring towards myself or others.
36. Love: to act lovingly or affectionately towards myself or others.
37. Mindfulness: to be conscious of, open to, and curious about my here-and-now experience.
38. Order: to be orderly and organized.
39. Open-mindedness: to think things through, see things from other’s points of view, and weigh evidence fairly.
40. Patience: to wait calmly for what I want.
41. Persistence: to continue resolutely, despite problems or difficulties.
42. Pleasure: to create and give pleasure to myself or others.
43. Power: to strongly influence or wield authority over others, e.g. taking charge, leading, organizing.
44. Reciprocity: to build relationships in which there is a fair balance of giving and taking.
45. Respect: to be respectful towards myself or others; to be polite, considerate and show positive regard.
46. Responsibility: to be responsible and accountable for my actions.
47. Romance: to be romantic; to display and express love or strong affection.
48. Safety: to secure, protect, or ensure safety of myself or others.
49. Self-awareness: to be aware of my own thoughts, feelings and actions.
50. Self-care: to look after my health and wellbeing, and get my needs met.
51. Self-development: to keep growing, advancing or improving in knowledge, skills, character, or life experience.
52. Self-control: to act in accordance with my own ideals.
53. Sensuality: to create, explore and enjoy experiences that stimulate the five senses.
54. Sexuality: to explore or express my sexuality.
55. Spirituality: to connect with things bigger than myself.
56. Skilfulness: to continually practice and improve my skills, and apply myself fully when using them.
57. Supportiveness: to be supportive, helpful, encouraging, and available to myself or others.
58. Trust: to be trustworthy; to be loyal, faithful, sincere, and reliable.
59. Insert your own unlisted value:
60. Insert your own unlisted value:
There are vastly more values than this. I suspect if we thought about it we could think up 400. There may be others important to you, such as: Wonder or Wisdom, Skillfullness or Selflessness, Optimism or Outlandishness, Inquisitiveness or Intrepidness, Fascination or Firmness, Discipline or Depth.
What I did next was to go through and mark some of the Very Importants as Extremely Importants, because I think some Very Importants stand out more than others. The tricky part is then to choose only 6 Extremely Importants that are most important to you. These are the things you value most, and represent you as a Human. I would urge any reader of this to go ahead and follow the exercise to find their own values - comment below with your 6 if you like, as I would be very interested to see what differences define others.
What I did next was to go through and mark some of the Very Importants as Extremely Importants, because I think some Very Importants stand out more than others. The tricky part is then to choose only 6 Extremely Importants that are most important to you. These are the things you value most, and represent you as a Human. I would urge any reader of this to go ahead and follow the exercise to find their own values - comment below with your 6 if you like, as I would be very interested to see what differences define others.
My Six Values
KINDNESS | INTELLECTUALITY | HUMILITY
OPEN-MINDEDNESS | SELF-DEVELOPMENT | HUMOUR
KINDNESS | INTELLECTUALITY | HUMILITY
OPEN-MINDEDNESS | SELF-DEVELOPMENT | HUMOUR