Values Checklist

Instructions: Take a look at the values listed on the following list. Please perform each of the
steps in order (without thinking ahead).
Step 1) Check off (or star) your top 10 values on the list there are blank spaces so you can add
additional values that may not already be listed.
____ Achievement
____ advancement and
promotion
____ adventure
____ affection (love and
caring)
____ arts
____ challenging problems
____ change and variety
____ close relationships
____ community
____ competence
____ competition
____ cooperation
____ country
____ creativity
____ decisiveness
____ democracy
____ ecological awareness
____ economic security
____ effectiveness
____ efficiency
__X_ ethical practice
____ excellence
____ excitement
____ expertise
____ fame
____ fast living
____ fast-paced work
____ financial gain
____ freedom
____ friendships
____ growth

__X_ having a family

__X_ helping other people
____ helping society
____ honesty
____ independence
____ influencing others
____ inner harmony
__X_ integrity
____ intellectual status
____ involvement
____ job tranquility
____ knowledge
____ leadership
____ location
__X_ loyalty
____ market position
__X_ meaningful work
____ merit
____ money
____ nature
____ being around open and
honest people
__X_ order (tranquility,
stability, conformity)
____ personal development
(living up to the
fullest use of my
potential)
____ physical challenge
____ pleasure
____ power and authority
____ privacy
____ public service

____ purity
____ quality of what I take
part in
____ quality relationships
____ recognition (respect
from others, status)
__X_ religion
____ reputation
____ responsibility and
accountability
____ security
____ self-respect
____ serenity
____ sophistication
__X_ stability
____ status
____ supervising others
__X_ time freedom
____ truth
____ wealth
____ wisdom
____ work under pressure
____ work with others
____ working alone
____________________
____________________
____________________
____________________
____________________
____________________
____________________
____________________
____________________

Step 2) OK, now that you have identified your top 10 values, I want you to review them, and
cross five of them off the list. Thats right you cant have 10, you can only have five! ;-) (At
least for the purposes of this activity). Do that now.
Step 3) Take a moment to consider the following questions: Jot down your answers.
What are your top five values? What are some specific behaviors that you would
associate with?
My top five values are Religion, Family, Order, Integrity and Meaningful Work.
Some specific behaviors I would associate with these values are the way I approach life and
treat others, the time I dedicate to my family, the longing I have for a slower paced life and
the never ending search for a job that provides a sense of meaning rather that just a
paycheck.

How prominent are these values across your various life roles? How consistently and
effectively do you live / practice them?
I would say these values are very prominent across my life roles. I am not as consistent as I
would life with my religion and this is something that needs to become my priority. I would
say I am consistent with my family and Integrity. Order and meaningful work are both
something I long for but have yet to achieve.
What effect does practicing these values have on your attitudes and behaviors?
Practicing these values has a very positive effect on my attitudes and behaviors. That is in
fact why each of these values is important to me.
Step 4) OK, now that you have identified your top 5 values, I want you to review them, and
cross one off. Assume you cant have it. What assumptions or rationalizations did you make as
you crossed off this value (i.e., how did you relate or subsume in into the remaining values)?
Repeat this process of crossing off (and reflecting on the question) one at a time until youre
down to one value. Whats your top value? What did you learn about how you define your top
values as a result of this activity? What did you learn about your hierarchy of values as a result
of this activity?
The first value I would cross off is meaningful work. While this is something I long for, my
family and I can survive just fine with my current line of work.
Order would have to be the second value I would cross of the list as it is again not a necessity but
something I would really like to have.
Integrity would have to be next. This was a hard one to cross off because I believe Integrity is
one of my most important qualities. It just is not more important than Family or Religion.
As hard as this is to write down, Family would come next, but only because Religion must come
first in order for my family to reach its full potential.
My top value then would be Religion because God needs to be my first priority. He is my guiding
light and in putting Him first I have not chosen Him over my family but made the choice For my
family.
What I learned about my top values as a result of this activity is that they focus on quality of life.
Every value I chose has a direct impact on the quality of life I would like to provide for my
family.