Your belongings (2)

If you had to pack up your life and leave in a hurry, grabbing only your most important possessions, what would you need to carry them? A knapsack? A wheelbarrow? A steamer trunk? A minivan? A cruise ship?

Success (4)

Do you feel pressure to live up to a specific idea of success defined by your family, friends, or peer group? Does your idea of success line up with theirs, or do you have your own personal definition of what counts as successful?

Success (3)

What person (real or fictional) comes to mind, for you, as the ultimate picture of success? What specific accomplishment or attainment of theirs stands out for you as the key symbol of their success? To put it another way, what specific thing stands as the undeniable proof that they are indeed successful?

Now, would this same specific thing work as a measure of success for you?  Or would your own ideal success lead in a different direction and take a different physical form? 

Your living space (1)

Every home has its own distinct personality. What is your home like?  How well does your home suit you?  Does your home line up with your personal style and values?  Does it support you in being who you want to be?

Things that can't be seen (1)

Do you feel that your life has an underlying purpose?  If so, was your life's purpose already in place when you were born, or did it develop or evolve over a period of time? 

Your parents' priorities

What is one thing that your father insisted that you always take seriously?
What is one thing that your mother insisted that you always take seriously?

This week's theme is values.

Out of place

In your life right now, what is one thing — something you do, or something you own — that you'll admit doesn't fit very well with your values?

This week's theme is values.

Walking the talk

Some people speak of specific values but don't follow those same values in their own behavior.  Among the people you know, who struggles with a mismatch between their words and their actions?  In your own life, what is one thing you believe in, even though you sometimes find it a challenge to put it into action?

This week's theme is values.

Values

Valuing something means treating it as important. The way we measure our values is by seeing what we actually do when two different things are in conflict and we have to choose one or the other.

What are some of the things that you make sure to get done even when you "don't have time for anything"?  

This week's theme is values.

How to sleep better

What's the best advice you could give someone who told you they were trying to have better-quality sleep? 

Of the things that you would advise the person to try, are they all things that you do yourself?

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Imagine you are going to a costume party dressed as your favorite villain, or perhaps as your own evil alter ego. What is your costume character's principal vice, the character trait that offers the sharpest contrast to your everyday virtuous self?

This week's theme is character strengths and virtues.

If you want to be my friend

Which character strength do you consider most important for your friends to have? What character flaw do you find hardest to put up with?

This week's theme is character strengths and virtues.

A shining example

Like everyone, you have many personal strengths and virtues; some are easy to see, others more hidden. Of all of these, which would you most like to see other people adopt and imitate? Which of your strong points would do the most good for the world at large?

This week's theme is values.

Next year's theme

If you had to pick one of the following words to serve as the central theme of the next chapter of your life, which would you pick: tranquility, prosperity, triumph, or healing?

This week's theme is values.

Misspeaking and missed speaking

There are two ways by which your speech can be at odds with your values. The first is by saying things that you don't truly believe. The second is by not saying things when circumstances call for you to speak up.

Looking at your own past behavior, which of these two faults is more common for you?

This week's theme is values.

Values: your specialty

Yesterday we mentioned four ways to value things: (1) by speaking of them, (2) by taking action, (3) by spending money on them, (4) by devoting time and attention to them. All four of these areas are important, and different people tend to specialize in different ones. Which is your specialty? When you find something that's important to you, which of these do you tend to do first, or most often, or with the most energy?

This week's theme is values.

Values

There are at least four different ways to measure our values: (1) by our words, (2) by our actions, (3) by how we spend our money, (4) by how we use our time.

Ideally these four measures should be in alignment with each other and in agreement with your real values. In practice, things are never that neat. In your life, which of these four feels most in line with your real values?

This week's theme is values.

Adventure awaits!

It often happens in movies, but rarely in real life — but just suppose that, all of a sudden, circumstances asked you to drop everything and head off on a risky and unplanned adventure. What's one adventure you can imagine — however unlikely and unrealistic it might be — that would definitely make it worth dropping everything?

Give and give again

How do you feel about repeat gifts? Is it okay to give the same thing to someone year after year (something nice, obviously), or is it important that each gift be a unique surprise?

This week's theme is giving.

Followership

Leaders tend to get most of the attention, but none of their successes would happen without followers. What skills or traits make you a follower that a leader would be glad to have? And how do you decide which leaders are the right ones to follow?

This week's theme is leadership.