Category: Unit 02

Life Values Assessment

Family

Friendship

Enjoyment

Loyalty

Integrity

—

Security

Health

Personal Accomplishment

Personal Development

Leadership

Independence

Wisdom

Community

Wealth

Expertness

Prestige

Power

Service

Location

Creativity

 

My top five values are family, friendship, enjoyment, loyalty, and integrity. My typically actions on a daily basis are relatively in line with my top five values. I value integrity and loyalty in the people around me and in myself more than any other characteristic. I strive to make sure the company I keep has those qualities everyday.  During the school year I am away from my family but I have grown really close to my two older brothers in recent years. I should call my parents and sister more often so that my daily actions would be more consistent with my values. Lastly, more than any of my other values I should spend more time cultivating my friendships than I currently do on a daily basis. I live with my long-time girlfriend and because I love spending so much time with I spend a lot less time with friends than I used to.

 

I believe that people’s beliefs are more a result of nurture than nature, and so I believe I “inherited” (learned) a lot of my belief patterns from my family. I was raised in a religious family and so a lot of religious values were instilled in me. I am no longer religious but a lot of those same values and beliefs influence me still today. I am fortunate enough that I do not have any particular goals that I have yet to achieve. Most of the things I have set my mind to I have been able to accomplish. My next goal that I am working towards is to become a homeowner after I graduate.

Put Yourself In Their Shoes

Hello readers,

 

I enjoyed this weeks reading. As an accounting major, I haven’t explored value systems in such depth before. The author wrote, “Ultimately, of course, nobody can ever be objective” (Sorting It Out 17). This point really resonated with me. The author was talking about how it is impossible to explore value systems without bias because inevitably each person will reason and explore from a given perspective based on there on values and mental modes. Although this may have been a minor point in the scheme of the entire discussion, I thought it was profound. In my experience the author is correct. Similar to what the author is describing, I think it is impossible to truly understand another person or identify with their thought processes and value systems. In my experience, this is most prevalent during an argument. People often say to “put yourself in their shoes”. But that isn’t really possible, is it? You need to understand a person’s thought processes based on their mental modes and values. However, you cannot achieve this objectively because your evaluation is coming from an inherently different perspective based on your own unique mental mode composition and values. You cannot understand someone’s thoughts and values through your own different thoughts and values.

 

The author also wrote, “Personal values matter a great deal. Without them, we cannot live at all… Without clearly focused values, it is probably impossible to lead a purposeful and satisfying life” (Sorting It Out 18). I don’t necessarily disagree with this claim, I just don’t think it is possible not to have values. Even if someone is depressed or struggles to find joy in things, they must place different significance and importance on things, which means they must have values. Inevitably one must use the mental modes in some combination, which would lead them to some set of values. This was another minor point within the scheme of the paper, but one that stood out to me.