- a) It is important to recognize the beliefs that have established your views of yourself, others, and the world. A cultural belief that was once common was “A penny saved is a penny earned.” Think about how you learned about money in your family? (learned through my mother and father about saving moeny)
b) Perhaps you received messages about how to behave, such as: “If you don’t go to church, you’ll go to hell,” “Cleanlines is next to Godliness” “The early bird catches the worm,” and “We don’t associate with those kind of people.” Do you recall other thoughts like these you learned as a child?
c) You may have absorbed beliefs about human nature such as “Owing people is wrong.” “You can’t trust men, they just want one thing,” “Working hard is the way to succeed,” “Poor people are just lazy,” “Beggars can’t be choosers,” “No one should be without a job, because if a person really wants to work they will find a job,” or “It is best to be cautious around others because you can’t count on them.”
Write a belief statement related to each of the examples listed above for: money, relationships, and success. These beliefs will influence your values, your reactions to life experiences, your culture, and other factors.
- How do you identify yourself culturally, racially, and/or ethnically? List three values you learned growing up. How do these values contribute to your becoming a successful adult? Do you think these values are specific to only your culture/race/ethnicity? (I AM AN AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMAN – HONESTY, HARD WORK ETHICS, COMPASSION)
- When did you first realize that your family belonged to a certain group of people (e.g., African-American, Caucasian, Mexican-American, Native-American, Indian, Asian-American, Irish-American, Euro-American, etc)? What were you taught in your family about people from other ethnic or racial groups? How were differences dealt with in your family? (YES)
- Make a list of all the stressful events in your life in the last year. Remember that positive events such as going on vacation, moving to a nicer apartment, or getting married may be as stressful as negative events such as being in a car accident, getting sick, receiving a low grade, or not having enough money to pay your bills. Positive and negative events add extra demands to your life. Now, put a number between 1 and 10 after each stressful event. A 10 would be something very stressful that has a big impact on your life, such as the death of a family member, and a 1 would be something not very stressful, such as a minor illness. Now think about how you react when there is stress in your life. Some people become more accident prone, some are more likely to get sick, some get ulcers or cancer sores, and some have even been known to have a heart attack at a young age caused by stress. (STARTING A NEW JOB, PLANNING A FAMILY REUNION, GETTING A PUPPY AND POTTY TRAINING)