Learning Objectives:

• To engage participants in exploring their values in multiple life domains
• To engage participants in reflecting on how their current actions align with their values in multiple life domains

Materials:

• Flipchart and Masking Tape, Water-based colour markers Worksheet 3.7.1: Bull’s Eye: Valued Living Chart
• Handout 3.7.2: Values, Goals, and Life Areas
• Pre-draw the Bull’s Eye diagram on a flipchart page

Time Required: 30 Minutes

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Activities & Instructions

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Set-Up:

• One facilitator uses a marker to draw 5 concentric circles on a flipchart to make a bull’s eye. Divide this into quadrants. Label each quadrant: Self-care, Family, Work, Friends, and Social advocacy (as in Worksheet 3.7.1).
• Participants sit in a horseshoe shape. The facilitators are in front with a blank flipchart.
• Participants will do work on their own at first. Then, some participants will volunteer to come up to interact with the facilitators and use the Bull’s Eye diagram on the flipchart to share their work.

Instructions to Participants

1. Introduction (5 minute)
   (Describe the overall purpose of the exercise.)

• “As we discussed, we all have our own set of values that are really important to us and give our lives a sense of direction and meaning. In this exercise, we will explore our values in our various life domains and how our actions have been aligned with our values.”
• (Remind participants of previous exercises about values.)

2. Have participants reflect on their current behaviours and values (5 minute)
   (Ask participants to think about their current behaviours in these six domains and whether they are consistent with their values; they can record them on the handout.)

• “We have many different areas of our lives. Let’s begin with these six major areas of our lives.”
• “In each of these quadrants, place an ‘X’ on where you think you’re at when you look back at the kinds of things you’re doing or not doing with respect to your values. How satisfied are you with your own actions if you use your own values as a yardstick to measure? In other words, based on what you value and identify as important to you, are you satisfied with the efforts or action you have put into this area of your life? How aligned have your own actions been with your values? It is very important to note that we are only looking at your efforts and action, not the outcome of your action, not whether you are successful in achieving your goal in each of these areas.”
• “If your actions have been consistent and aligned with your values, then you will mark your ‘X’ in the centre, the Bull’s eye; if your actions are very different than what you value, then you will mark your ‘X’ in the outer circles. For example, you value self-care and you are not taking time to relax, not eating nutritious food, not getting enough sleep, and never going for a check-up, etc., you may find that your actions or efforts are not that consistent with what you value. In this case, you will put an ‘X’ pretty far away from the centre, like out here.” (Indicate spot on flipchart.)
• Facilitator gives participants the worksheet and explains the instructions on the worksheet. Check to see if they have questions. Facilitator invites 1 or 2 participants to respond to hypothetical scenarios to check if they actually understood the instructions correctly.
• “If family relationship is important to you and you have not spent much time or energy to be with your family, then where would you mark your ‘X’ in this area?” (answer should be outer circles)
• “Now, if family is not of importance to you and you spend very little time or energy with your family, then where would you mark your ‘X’? (answer should be Bull’s eye)”

Facilitator Tip:

It may be useful to explain and summarize the instructions in a table as follows:

Values	Action/Effort	Location of the X
High	High	Bull’s eye
Low	Low	Bull’s eye
High	Low	Outer circles
Low	High	Outer circles

• Facilitator explains, “You have 5 minutes to complete this worksheet. We will invite you to share when everyone finishes.” (Facilitator keeps time)

3. Invite participants to share their Bull’s Eye results (15 minute)

• (Invite all participants to come up to the front and use a coloured marker to put an “X” or a mark in each of the quadrants. Use a different colour (or symbols such as different shapes or initials) for each volunteer.)
• (After everyone has marked where they are at in the Bull’s Eye chart, invite 6-8 participants from among the group who are willing to come up to the front and share.)
• Facilitator says, “Can you please come up and share with us why you placed your ‘X’s’at the specific spots.”
• (After 6-8 participants have finished sharing, thank everyone and engage all participants in debriefing.)

Debriefing Questions (10 minutes)

• “What was doing this exercise is like for you?”
• “Were there any surprises?”

Key Summary Points

• The Bull’s Eye is a tool that we can use to track our own progress in terms of acting based on our values. It helps us to determine which areas of our life we may want to put efforts into.
• Participants may use the Bull’s Eye to reflect on their other life domains (e.g., domains in Handout 3.7.2).
• Remind participants that values are not something to attain like a goal – but a direction that guides the goals we set and our path of behaviours we want to pursue; when one route is blocked, we can always be flexible and detour around our barriers as we endeavour to move our “X’s” towards the centre.
• It is important to note that while the outcomes in each of the areas are dependent on different factors some of which are beyond our control, what efforts we put in or what actions we take are within our control, and they are our decisions and responsibilities.

Source:

Adapted and modified from Bull’s Eye in Dahl, J., & Lundgren, T., (2006). Living Beyond Your Pain: Using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to Ease Chronic Pain (pp. 139-142). Oakland, CA: New Harbinger Publication, Inc

Adapted from Values Worksheet in Hayes, S.C., Strosahl, K., & Wilson, K.G. (2012). Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: The Process and Practice of Mindful Change (pp.311-315). New York: Guilford Press.

Worksheet 3.7.1 – Bull’s Eye: Valued Living

Are you doing what is important to you? When our values and our actions are consistent and aligned, we will be in the centre of the bull’s eye. Please rate the consistency of your current actions with respect to your own values in the following four areas of life by putting an ‘X’ in each quadrant (i.e., high value/high efforts=centre; high value/low efforts=outside; low value/low efforts=centre; low value/high efforts=outside)

• Mary values an active lifestyle AND regularly exercises. Even though she is dying of cancer, she puts an ‘X’ in the centre of the self-care quadrant because she is quite satisfied with her actions being in line with her values.
• Johnny is physically healthy. He values an active lifestyle too, but he doesn’t exercise anymore. He marks an ‘X’ in one of the outer circles, because he is not currently doing what he values as important and is not satisfied with his actions.
• Tom doesn’t value having an active lifestyle and so he never exercises. He takes care of himself in other ways by eating and sleeping well. He puts an ‘X’ in self-care in the centre because he is doing what is important to him.
• Susan values a close relationship with her father, and visits him weekly at a nursing home. He has dementia and yells at her every time she visits. She puts an ‘X’ in the centre of family because she is satisfied with her actions.

Explain why you put the “X’s” where they are (e.g. what supports you or what gets in your way):

Self-care:

 

Work:

 

Advocacy:

 

Family:

 

Friends:

 

Community:

Handout 3.7.2 – Values, Goals, and Life Areas

• Friendships/social life. What sort of qualities would you like to bring to your friendships? If you could be the best friend possible, how would you behave towards your friends? What sort of friendships would you like to build?
• Career/employment. What do you value in your work? What would make it more meaningful? What kind of worker would you like to be? If you were living up to your own ideal standards, what personal qualities would you like to bring to your work? What sort of work relations would you like to build?
• Marriage/couples/intimate relations. What sort of partner would you like to be in an intimate relationship whether or not you are in a relationship now? What personal qualities would you like to develop? What sort of relationship would you like to build? How would you interact with your partner ifyou were the “ideal you” in this relationship?
• Education/personal growth and development. What do you value about learning, education, training, or personal growth? What new skills would you like to learn? What knowledge would you like to gain? What further education appeals to you? What sort of student would you like to be? What personal qualities would you like to apply?
• Recreation/fun/leisure. What sorts of hobbies, sports, or leisure activities do you enjoy? How do you relax and unwind? How do you have fun? What sorts of activities would you like to do?
• Family relations. What sort of brother/sister, son/daughter, uncle/aunt do you want to be? What personal qualities would you like to bring to those relationships? What sort of relationships would you like to build? How would you interact with others if you were the ideal you in these relationships?
• Citizenship/environment/ community life. What type of neighbour would you like to be? How would you like to contribute to your community or environment, e.g. through volunteering, or recycling, or supporting a group/ charity/ political party?
• Spirituality. Whatever spirituality means to you is fine. It may be as simple as communing with nature, or as formal as participation in an organized religious group. What is important to you in this area of life?
• Parenting. What sort of parent would you like to be? What sort of qualities would you like to have? What sort of relationships would you like to build with your children? How would you behave if you were the “ideal you”?
• Health/physical well-being. What are your values related to maintaining your physical well- being? How do you want to look after your health, with regard to sleep, diet, exercise, smoking, alcohol, etc? Why is this important?