Joey deVilla linked to this Clean Sweep Program Life Assessment Quiz that he found from Mark Pilgrim. My score was 79 (out of 100). Although I may not agree precisely with the way each question was worded or the two-options of answering (a range or scale would be more precise), I do feel that it highlights weaknesses and reveals strengths. My highest score was in relationships – and also money, although I confess that since I’m not employed, that one was a bit fuzzy for me to complete (I either applied it to Ted and me together financially or to my life as a mom as a career).
My lowest scores were low because of the bad habits I am striving to break, and they are inter-related: I eat poorly when I stay up late when I put too much on my plate …etc. I don’t drink 2 Liters of water and I’m also usually running a little late these days (all inter-related, again…). (well, I did say that my computer is not perfect either!) What I noticed is what I am trying to change. Maybe that’s because that’s what I’m seeing in the mirror at the moment. (anyone see anything else?!)
Whether or not I agree with the assessment and its values, I think that sharing the results is a way to share about yourself, and opens the door deeper inside. I appreciated how Mark listed the specific areas he feels he needs to change and said he will be working on them. It’s one thing to talk about strengths and another to admit weaknesses. The comments section on Mark’s and Joey’s posts also are fun to read..and revealing…
I also liked what Joey wrote in another post here:
This world does have its share of seekers, Christian and otherwise, who are looking for that “something more” and who know that hipness is merely a byproduct, not a goal.
Speaking of being less than perfect and linking to Joey, I realized that I need to correct an error I made in what I posted the last time I linked to him, a post now famous for its slogan My Canada includes Accordion Guy. The other day I remembered that when I did my family tree as a seventh grade assignment, I discovered that some of my ancestors were French-Canadian settlers. Yes, it was a long time ago, more than two centuries, but it’s my heritage, however historic, and I probably still carry some genetic trace of them. They’re in my DNA and on my family tree. I wrote “I’m not a Canadian” but somewhere inside me, I am. 🙂
2 responses so far ↓
1 Jeffrey Harris // Jun 12, 2004 at 8:37 am
The Life Assessment Quiz is fascinating, I’m glad you linked to it. I found that I couldn’t check an absurd number of the physical environment questions, which was telling for me. Some of them I couldn’t check because the implied condition isn’t in fact a particularly positive one from my perspective, but certainly not all.
Living in a house under construction for years is stressful, which I sometimes forget, because I’ve gotten used to it.
Since not all of us value the same things in our physical environment (or in the other categories), I think it would be fascinating to create a more customized test; first, check which things you value, then check which things aren’t happening in your life.
Certainly some of the conditions (drinking lots of water, not abusing alchohol) are objectively important for human health, and clearly this site is trying to convey to people how well they’re fitting their lives to a standard that many developed world people consider to be valuable. Being a somewhat atypical developed worlder, I think it would be more fun (and more telling) to track which conditions a broad spectrum of netizens selected as conditions they valued.
Jeffrey
2 Julie // Jun 14, 2004 at 12:05 am
Jeffrey – thanks for your comment! I agree that either using an assessment-type list in a customized fashion or surveying netizens to determine which values were shared could be helpful and interesting. It could be good to have a tool I could use from time to time to check in and evaluate how I am doing in progressing towards my values and goals. Or perhaps communities and families could use such a tool also?
I noticed that one blogger, after reading the assessment, made his own list of values.
http://toadking.org/archives/2004/06/000461-clean_sweep_assessment.html