Pop quiz

Ego-based values:


How concerned am I with the following?

1. Money (income, assets, expenses, liabilities, stuff, displays of wealth)
2. Sex (including romance and relationships, dating, hook-ups, trawling, scrolling)
3. Power (dominance, domination, safety, security, defences; control of others, situations, and results)
4. Prestige (success, impressing others, hierarchy, position, seniority, recognition, praise)
5. Comfort (pleasure, idleness, avoidance of effort or work, numbing out by shutting down, shifting responsibility to others)
6. Thrills (excitement, edginess, high-stakes situations, numbing out through over-stimulation)
7. Appearance (body, hair, clothes, make-up, 'body art', style, fashion, tribal positioning or signalling, other external manifestations of 'identity', temporary or permanent cosmetic work, excessive attention to diet and exercise, body-building, weight loss, weight gain)

Score 0 to 5 for each, with ‘0’ being ‘not at all concerned’ and ‘5’ being ‘very greatly concerned’.

It's important not to fool oneself: how concerned I am with something can be determined by examining not wishful thinking but: How much time do I spend thinking about or doing these things?

This is score A. Maximum score: 35.

God-based values:


How concerned am I with the following?

1. Spending time with God (prayer, meditation, contemplation, spiritual reading, listening, and writing)
2. Creative pursuits and contact with nature (music, art, etc., focused on simply doing, not on achievement, results, or impressing others; being in nature or with animals or plants)
3. Achieving peace of mind (quietness, stillness, not necessarily inactivity, but measured, unhurried, relaxed activity)
4. Looking after myself (attending in a measured way to good diet, exercise, sleep, rest, plus mental and spiritual wellbeing)
5. Self-examination and replacement of defects with virtues (daily process of discarding what does not work for what does and longer arcs of self-improvement)
6. Being present (to reality and to others, to the task at hand, quietly taking in what is going on)
7. Service (constructively contributing to the day and to the lives of the people around me)

Score 0 to 5 for each, with ‘0’ being ‘not at all concerned’ and ‘5’ being ‘very greatly concerned’.

This is score B. Maximum score: 35.

Assessing the results:


A good result is score B exceeding score A. A very good result is score B being a multiple of score A (e.g. score A: 8, score B: 24).