What's Important to You?

QW: If you were faced with an imminent emergency (fire, flood, earthquake, etc) and you had one minute to gather the important things and get out of your house, what would you take?

Values sort:
Print out the values cards available here: http://www.icarevalues.org/Value%20Cards%20v4.nd.pdf, and cut them apart.  In the blank ones, you can write in any values that are not already in the set.  Then do the following:

• Sort the values into two piles - those that are important to you, and those that are not so important to you
• Remove the pile of non-important values (that is, not so important to you; keep in mind these may be important values for someone else)
• With the remaining pile, sort the values until you have them in order from most important to least important.  You may have to go through the stack a few times and rearrange the values before you're satisfied with the order

Complete this worksheet.  You can either print it, or make a copy for yourself and complete it in Google Docs.  Turn it in to your EF.

When you start looking into careers, it is important to keep in mind what your core values are.  If you end up in a career that does not match up well with your values (especially the most important ones), you will be miserable every day.  

Take a minute to reflect on why these things are important to you.  Write 1-2 paragraphs describing the people and institutions in your life that have shaped your values.

Finding Your Passion

QW: What was something you loved doing as a kid?

In a previous post, you watched a video by Larry Smith, in which he explained why you will fail to have a great career.  His argument was that either you won't find your passion, or you will be too afraid to follow it.  The basic underlying message is that to be truly fulfilled in life, you need to pursue your passion, regardless of what other people think of your journey.

I recently read a blog post by Mark Manson in which he argued that you probably already know what your passion is, you're just ignoring it because either you don't think you can earn money doing it, or you're afraid it's not good enough.  The ideal career path, and individual passion, is a very personal thing.  Your path is for you alone, and it is not for anyone else to say you should or shouldn't follow that path - the decision is entirely yours.

Sometimes, however, it takes a while to find your true passion.  You need to be open to trying new things; you may discover a hidden passion somewhere you never thought to look.  As children, we naturally gravitate towards new experiences, and we have no trouble finding things that interest us.  As we get older, we tend to overthink, to over-analyze our decisions and put too much stake on what others think of what we're doing, and not enough weight on how we ourselves feel about it.  To help in exploring various interests and activities, read the following article: Find Your Passion With These 8 Thought-Provoking Questions.

Then answer the following questions:

1. What is your tennis ball?
2. What is something you believe that almost nobody agrees with you on?
3. What are your superpowers?
4. What did you enjoy doing as a child?
5. What are you willing (or eager) to try now?
6. Looking back on your life, 30 years from now, what do you want to say you have accomplished?
7. What are you doing when you feel most alive?
8. What is one sentence that sums up who you are, who you want to be, and what you want to accomplish?

Turn in the answers to these questions to your EF.

Why You will Fail to Have a Great Career

QW: What is something you are passionate about?

Activity: Watch the video by Larry Smith on why you will fail to have a great career:

Then answer the response questions on this worksheet.

Optional: Write a speech or make a video giving a rebuttal to Larry Smith - why will you succeed in having a great career?

Success

QW: Describe a person who you feel is successful.

Part I: Review some quotes on success at this website.  Choose one of the quotes on the website, or create your own success quote and create a poster (with a visual image) of that quote.

Part II: What Does Success Mean to You?  Write three paragraphs about success:

The first paragraph should explain what you mean by the term "success".  You could start with one of the following statements:

• "I consider myself successful when...."
• "My definition of success is...."
• "I think a successful person is one who......"

Then explain why.

In the second paragraph, describe someone who you consider to be successful.  This could be someone you know personally, or someone famous.  It can also be a historical figure (but it must be a real person).  Explain why you think this person is or was successful.

In the third paragraph, describe what you hope your life will be like in the future.  Think (and write) about how this description of your life lines up with the ideas of success you described in the first paragraph.