Bryson Duffy

Values Statement
11/12/18

This exercise consists of three steps. There is direct correlation between

your investment of effort, time, and creative thinking with how meaningful
and useful your results are.

I. List your five signature Talent Themes (starting with your

strongest and descending in order of strength) and define them
approximately 15 words or less. This can be more challenging than
it sounds. This is an important step in fully grasping your unique
combination of Talent Areas.

If you already did this step in your Elevator Speech, simply

copy your work from this section and paste it here.

My Description of my Top Five Clifton Strengths™

Talent Areas / Themes

Talent Area / Theme Description

Achiever A hard worker and someone who finds satisfaction in

success.

Competition Someone who measures their progress against others.

Futuristic Someone who is excited by what the future could hold.

Focus Someone who can prioritize and follow that list of

priorities.
 Belief Someone with unchanging core values and has a
defined purpose in life.

II. Complete this Values Clarification Exercise

This exercise will help you develop your values statement for your final ePortfolio.
Be sure to look at the second page.
1. Review the following list of values. (Important Note: These are your
personally held values, not your Talents or Strengths. Check or
highlight the 25 values you believe to be the most important:

_____ Loyalty _____ Relationships _____Financial Security

_____ Sincerity or Integrity _____ Security _____ Competence
_____ Strength _____ Fairness _____ Cooperation
_____ Joy _____ Creativity _____ Dependability
_____ Privacy _____ Inclusion _____ Determination
_____ Honesty _____ Family _____ Courage
_____ Effort _____ Friends _____ Empathy
_____ Kindness _____ Safety _____ Flexibility
_____ Justice _____ Discourse or discussion _____ Freedom
_____ Equality _____ Autonomy _____ Growth
_____ Recognition _____ Beauty _____ Harmony
_____ Competition _____ Discipline _____ Independence
_____ Belonging _____ Caring _____ Organization
_____ Love and Affections _____ Open-mindedness _____ Caution
_____ Peace _____ Effectiveness _____ Learning
_____ Intelligence _____ Diversity _____ Hope
_____ Sense of Humor _____ Challenge _____ Health
_____ Achievement _____ Decisiveness _____ Innovation
_____ Faith or Spirituality _____ Curiosity _____ Power
_____ Patience _____ Communication _____ Involvement
_____ Trust _____ Individualism _____ Productivity
_____ Prosperity and Wealth _____ Responsibility _____ Status
_____ Teamwork _____ Quality _____ Respect
_____ Uniqueness _____ Variety _____ Wisdom
2. List any values that you believe would be in your top 25 if they had been
listed. Substitute these into your list of 25 values:

3. Number your values in order of importance to YOU (1 = most important, 10

= least important) and list your Top 10 below:

1. Faith
2. Family
3. Love
4. Health
5. Safety
6. Loyalty
7. Dependability
8. Trust
9. Communication
10. Friends
4. Write a brief explanation on why you selected each of your top 5.
1. The reason I chose faith is because I believe in my faith over all things.
2. Family is the next most import thing because if you don’t have family then you have no one. It doesn’t
matter if that family is blood or not.
3. Love is next because you need love in your life. Without love for someone or something you have an
empty void in your life.
4. Health because if you or your loved ones are not healthy, then that can cause a large amount of stress
and worry.
5. I want to always know my family and I are safe because without safety I couldn’t focus on other things.

Values Statement – with help from Dr. Hackerott

The 5 explanation statements you wrote as part of the value clarification exercise will
serve as a foundation for creating a value statement. A value statement is 3-5 sentences
long and serves to explain why you choose the activities in which you participate, how
you determine your daily/weekly/long-term priorities, and how you determined your
ultimate life goals.

Note: If the values you identified on the clarification exercise don’t

contribute to the whys and hows listed above…they’re really not your
values. You most likely ranked them in the top 5 because you felt that
you “should”. “Should” is a word that will derail you very quickly. You
will reach your goals and feel empty.

So, if you know you’re going to choose a career or job based on

salary; financial security, wealth, status, or security should be included
in your Top 5. That’s great.

It’s not a bad thing to value financial security, wealth, status, or

security. These values contribute to the ability to take care of a family
or individuals less fortunate. The need for financial security fuels the
entrepreneurial spirit that we cherish in the US. THERE ARE NO
“BAD” VALUES.

I’ll give you a very personal example. When I was being trained to
lead others through values clarification, I had to participate in a series
of similar exercises. It was mortifying to realize that “Honesty” was
near the bottom of my list while “Joy” was near the top. I really
believed that I could not share my honest list without the others
questioning my character.

Our leader saw me squirming and made his way over, reviewed my
list, and congratulated me. In all of his years of training, no one had
ever put “Joy” in their top 5. He then told me that “Joy” was as valid a
value as “Honesty”, “Discipline”, or any of the others.

In fact, too many people put “Honesty” in their top 5 because they’re
afraid if they don’t, people will believe they’re dishonest. That is not
the case. You can value “Honesty” highly but it may not be in your top
10 or 25. For example, “Honesty” and “Kindness” are often at odds.
“Do these jeans make my butt look big?” “Do you like my new car?”
How many of us would choose honesty and hurt someone’s feelings?
 By the way—my choice of “joy” turned out to be completely on-target
for me. I won’t stick to a task or an organization if I can’t make it fun
for me AND the others involved. Drudgery, misery, and mean/grumpy
people will chase me right out of the door. In the “Tao of Pooh” – I’m
a Tigger through and through. I quit apologizing for this value and
consequential activities and goals around the age of 25.

Be honest (no pun intended) with yourself on these exercises—no one

else will see them unless you choose to show them.

III. It is time to consider everything you worked on above and

create your Values Statement. Once you have created it, it might
be helpful to make sure it answers this question – “What matters
most to me and how does that affect my worldview?”

Your Results – My Values Statement:

The values I hold most high are simple. My faith, my family and our wellbeing. Above all
things I want to stay true to my faith, true to my family and to always have a healthy life and healthy family.