Week 2: Self-Assessment

“Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.”

—Carl Jung

Self-Assessment

I need a SitRep

Last week, our main focus was to expose you to the idea of being self-aware, primarily with your general behavior. Now this week we will dive a little deeper, analyzing various aspects of our lives.

Central to many men’s lives is family. Having a family requires money, and money usually includes some sort of steady income, a job or career. To best effectively raise a family means living a healthy lifestyle. Optimizing all of these things, we might call, getting one’s house in order.

This program’s main purpose is simply more about exposure to positive ideas, more than it is as a comprehensive course in every respective discipline. You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink. Before that, the horse should know that there is something as water, as where he can get it. Once the horse is sufficiently thirsty, he won’t need to be led. That is how I think of this course. There is water out there, and I am going to try and tell you where it is. Getting there will take more work.

So again, the main purpose for this week is to prompt you to think and write about various aspects in your life, to allow you to examine for yourself, what areas might you need to work on. And if you’re saying, I know my car is broken, great, but do you know exactly what is broken and why, and what might be required to fix it? Or maybe your car isn’t broken, but then is it running as optimally or efficiently as it could be?

Overview For the following, write down all of your findings. in your note taking platform of your choice, and use spreadsheets where applicable.

Finances

Write as many paragraphs as needed to describe your current financial situation. Begin by reflecting on your overall relationship and history with money and finances. How have your past experiences shaped your current approach to money management? Consider the influences of your upbringing, education, and any significant life events that have impacted your financial perspective.

Consider your income sources, spending habits, savings, investments, and any debts or liabilities. Be honest with yourself about the areas where you excel and where you might need improvement. Are their spending habits you’re proud of, or do you find certain aspects of financial management challenging?

As you write, identify areas for potential growth or change. These could be skills you want to develop, habits you wish to alter, or new strategies you’re interested in exploring.

Financial Questionnaire:

Income Assessment: How stable and diversified are your income sources? Are you dependent on a single source or do you have multiple streams of income?

Spending Habits: What are your major monthly expenses? Are there areas where you could potentially cut back without significantly impacting your lifestyle?

Savings and Emergency Funds: Do you have an emergency fund? If so, could it cover at least three to six months of living expenses?

Investment and Retirement Planning: Are you actively investing or saving for retirement? How confident are you in your investment strategies?

Debt Management: Do you have any outstanding debts? How are you managing them, and do you have a plan to pay them off?

Financial Education: How knowledgeable do you feel about financial matters such as budgeting, investing, and saving? Are there areas where you feel you could benefit from more education or advice?

Financial Goals: Do you have short-term and long-term financial goals? If you do, are your current financial habits aligned with these goals?

Health and Fitness

Write as many paragraphs as needed to describe your current state of health and fitness. Begin by reflecting on your history and relationship with health and fitness throughout your life. How were you raised to view health and fitness? Did your upbringing include a focus on physical activity and nutrition, or were these aspects not emphasized?

Consider how your past experiences have shaped your current health and fitness habits. Have there been significant life events that influenced your approach to health and fitness? Perhaps military service, specific training, or family health concerns have played a role in how you view and manage your health today.

Consider your habits and determine if they positively or negatively impact your health. Consider your diet, physical activity or lack thereof, your sleep, and any stressors in your life. Be honest in assessing areas where you excel and where you see room for improvement. Are there certain aspects of your health and fitness routine that you’re particularly proud of? On the other hand, are there habits or areas that you find challenging or would like to improve?

Lastly, consider the interplay between your physical health and your mental and emotional well-being. Have you thought about how your routine, activity levels, diet, and sleep quality can profoundly influence your mood, stress levels, and mental clarity?

Questionnaire:

Dietary Habits: How balanced and nutritious is your diet? Do you feel your current eating habits support your health goals?

Exercise Routine: Do you have a regular exercise routine? Does it include a mix of cardiovascular, strength, and flexibility training?

Sleep Quality: Are you getting enough restful sleep? Do you have a regular sleep schedule?

Stress Management: How do you manage stress in your life? Do you have effective coping strategies?

Preventative Health Measures: Are you up-to-date with health check-ups and screenings appropriate for your age and gender?

Mental and Emotional Well-being: Do you take time to address your mental and emotional health needs? Are there practices or habits you could adopt to improve this aspect of your health?

Health Goals: What are your short-term and long-term health goals? How aligned are your current health habits with these goals?

Use these questions to delve deeper into your health and fitness profile, identifying strengths and areas for improvement. This exercise is not just about understanding where you are right now but also about setting a path for where you want to be in the future, both physically and mentally.

Personal Relationships

Write as many paragraphs as needed to examine your current interpersonal relationships, encompassing family, friends, and romantic relationships. Begin by assessing the overall quality of these relationships. Are they supportive, challenging, or perhaps a mix of both? Consider how your background, education, and life experiences have shaped your relationships.

Do you have close friends that you regularly exchange phone calls with? People you can share and trust intimate details of your life with? List your top 5 positive relationships in your life and the bottom 5. Try to identify common denominators in all of them. Can you determine what would predict a positive or negative relationship for you?

Personal Relationships questionarre.

Sharing Intimate Details: How many friends do you have in your life that you are comfortable sharing intimate or personal details with?

Frequency of Communication: How many friends or family members do you exchange regular phone calls with?

Social Interactions: How often do share meals together with friends in your homes?

Mutual Support: How many individuals in your social circle actively offer support or assistance when you need it? Conversely, how often do you find yourself offering support to them?

Shared Activities and Interests: With how many friends or family members do you regularly engage in shared activities or hobbies?

Emotional Availability: Consider the people in your life: how many are emotionally available and responsive when you need someone to talk to?

Trust in Crisis: In a crisis or emergency, how many individuals in your social circle would you trust to help you?

Longevity of Relationships: Reflect on the duration of your current close relationships. How many have lasted more than a year, five years, or even longer?

Reciprocity of Relationship: In how many of your close relationships do you feel there is a mutual give-and-take? This can reflect the balance and health of the relationship.

Beliefs and Faith

I am a firm believer in belief. And that we all have faith in something, and we are all religious, even if we don’t think we are. As a believer in Jesus Christ, myself, I think it is important that we all examine the role that faith has in our life to give us all a moral center, a north star, and guiding principles to live by. Alexander Hamiliton is credited for saying, “If you don’t stand for something, you will fall for anything”. A man without a firm belief or deep conviction in something is like a rudderless ship.

Allow me to define belief for you. Belief is that way of thinking that causes action. Belief without action is like just your opinion man. It is ultimately meaningless. In the Bible, James tells us that faith without works is dead. This is what he means here. Faith is only faith, if there is an action associated with it. So examine your faith, your beliefs. If someone could only examine your life, could they determine, by that metric of action, what you believe? What do you believe in that you are not currently acting in accordance with?

Belief and Faith Questionnaire:

Core Belief Identification: What is the central core belief or truth that you hold above all else? Describe this foundational principle and its significance in your life.

Actions Reflecting Beliefs: Reflecting solely on your actions, what beliefs do these actions suggest you hold? Consider regular and recurring behaviors and what they indicate about your underlying values.

Beliefs Without Actions: Are there beliefs you claim to hold that aren’t reflected in your consistent actions? Identify these beliefs and the absence of corresponding behaviors.

Conflict Between Beliefs and Actions: What behaviors or actions do you engage in that are in direct conflict with your stated beliefs? How do you reconcile this disparity?

Influence of Environment on Beliefs: How does your environment (work, home, social circles) influence your core beliefs and actions? Are there aspects of your environment that challenge or reinforce your beliefs?

Beliefs Shaping Relationships: How do your core beliefs shape your relationships with others? Are there relationships that particularly strengthen or test your beliefs?

Adapting Beliefs Over Time: Have your core beliefs evolved over time? Reflect on significant life experiences that have led to a shift in your beliefs.

Impact of Beliefs on Decision-Making: How do your core beliefs influence your decision-making process in various aspects of life (career, relationships, personal goals)?

Consistency in Belief Expression: How consistently do you express your core beliefs across different settings and with different people?

Aligning Actions with Beliefs: What steps could you take to better align your actions with your core beliefs? Consider changes in habits, communication, or environment that might be necessary.

Discussion:

In all of your journaling, what was something you realized about your life? Did you come to any new conclusions?

Practical

The following is a spreadsheet, that I have created to help you take a more detailed look at your current situation.

Download and complete the spreadsheet. Download Organization Spreadsheet