I’ve just finished running a Quick Self-Improvement Survey and I wanted to share the results with you. A total of 145 people participated in this survey and it was interesting to watch how the results shifted as the number of participants increased.
There were just 3 questions on the survey and it only took about 30 seconds to complete. No personal information was required. My goal was to learn what issues were of greatest concern to my readers so I could keep the articles on this blog relevant to those concerns.
In the early stages, financial health was in first place, but over time some of the other issues moved up the chart. Finances actually finished in third place behind Relationships and Self-esteem, which were tied for first.
Below are the 3 survey questions and their top results
What stands out to you?
One thing that I noticed is the degree of optimism reflected in the answer to the third question. After all, that’s what this is all about – learning the advanced life skills that will help you to quickly improve the quality of your life. I also noticed that gratitude and goal setting didn’t get much attention.
Currently, I have a similar survey going and I would love it if you would take a moment to share your priorities and help me stay connected with your needs and concerns. It’s called My Top Priorities in Life
The value of surveys
It is very important to me personally to stay connected with my readers. I truly want to address your most pressing concerns, but I can’t do that unless I have a clear understanding of what those concerns are.
You might think that the 7500+ comments on this blog would be a good indicator, but there is a good reason to look beyond the comments. In truth, only a tiny fraction of readers leave comments. The rest might be called the quiet majority.
I want to hear from you!
My surveys are very short, mostly multiple choice, and no personal information is required. This makes it extremely easy for those readers, who might not be inclined to leave a comment, to provide valuable input.
Right now, I am interested in learning about your top priorities in life and I would really appreciate it if you could spare a minute to check a few boxes. Thanks for caring enough to take the survey My Top Priorities in Life.
PS. Currently, relationships are in first place with personal growth, happiness, and inner peace in a 3 way tie for second. I will update as we get more results!
Did any of the results from this survey surprise you?
What did you think of the new survey about priorities?
The lines are open!
If you enjoyed this article, consider email or RSS updates!
The mission of this site is to provide you with all the right strategies and resources to promote and encourage positive change in your life. All of the articles, 
{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
I was surprised that gratitude didn’t get more attention, but, like you, I think it’s encouraging that so many people believe that it’s possible to make rapid improvement and are interested in learning how.
Galen Pearl recently posted..Kuan Yin Calling
Hi Galen, I think the power of gratitude is often overlooked simply because the practical benefits aren’t as obvious as some of the other choices.
Hi Jonathan,
I assume you have a lot of grateful people completing your surveys. I will do the current one, anonymously of course.
be good to yourself
David
David Stevens recently posted..Imagine…. if only you knew what you had within… An exercise in Self Discovery
That’s a great assumption David, what a positive way to interpret those results.
Hi Jonathan,
I’m with Galen, I’m surprised that gratitude lagged significantly behind all the others. To me it’s an integral part of happiness. I guess I’m also surprised that happiness didn’t finish first in the survey.
Riley
Riley Harrison recently posted..IF YOU WASTE YOUR TIME, YOU WASTE YOUR LIFE
I know what you mean Riley, happiness is really the reason behind every other choice. It’s the reason those other things even matter.
Interesting survey. I’m really surprised that self-esteem is so high on the list. Maybe it is because of the very high pressure of our competitive society … I don’t know. Relationships is at the same level and that is a good thing. People believe it is important and want to work their relational skills … a good sign. And financial health on the third place. It stays important, probably because this has a high influence on the quality of self-esteem and relationships.
The people filling in the survey seems to be intelligent, because I believe if you solve these 3 area’s, most other area’s will be improved automatically as well
.
marc van der Linden recently posted..The happiness blueprint: happiness is a choice
Hi Marc, I think it is interesting to listen to the conclusions and observations being generated by these results. It’s like a survey on a survey! Lots of fun!
This is really interesting, Jonathan. I wonder how reflective the results are of society in general. No way to know that, of course. The level of optimism might reflect the caliber of people that read your blog, attracted to it precisely due to its optimistic tone. Thanks for sharing the survey results.
Sandra / Always Well Within recently posted..The Dalai Lama on Finding Contentment in a Troubled World
Hi Sandra, great observation, “The level of optimism might reflect the caliber of people that read your blog.” Very perceptive of you to make that connection. According to Alexa the majority of readers are educated women 35-55. Sounds like a smart bunch to me!
Hello Jonathan, it’s not surprising that relationships comes up number #1. We are social animals and relationships are simply what most of us were made to do. Personally I think people over-complicate relationships but that is another matter.
I think it is fantastic that you are proactively running these surveys!
Stephen – Rat Race Trap recently posted..The Key to Personal Effectiveness
Hello Stephen, I’ve been watching my stats pretty close lately and have noticed a shift. It used to be that overcome stress was at the top of keyword phrases that brought people here from the search engines. Lately, it’s been different phrases that relate to relationships. It makes perfect sense that the more out of sync everything else gets, the greater the challenge for relationships.
Hi Jonathan. Have you ever seen one of those “mystery diagnosis” T.V. shows? If not, the script goes like this. A patient shows up with a bunch of apparently unrelated symptoms. Head, feet, eyes, and stomach may all hurt, but no one cause can be found. Various docs treat individual symptoms…..sometimes for years. But needless to say, whatever’s wrong isn’t cured. In the television shows, someone eventually discovers a single underlying sickness and all the different symptoms go away with proper treatment. Okay, but now imagine low scores in your life survey were all caused by a single unexpected disease. By that I mean low self-esteem is a symptom of this sickness. So too is setting “inauthentic” goals. Ditto for poor physical and emotional health, lack of success at building deep relationships, equating money with personal importance….and so on. All symptoms of one illness. That really would be a bummer, because nobody’s looking for a single sickness at the roots of our lives. Much less offering a cure. Everybody’s just treating the symptoms. “But the life survey results aren’t symptoms of some fantasy illness” you say? Well, I respectfully beg to differ on that one with you Jonathan. And perhaps one day this disease in our heart of hearts will be cast into the light of day where it can be cured. Ciao Jonathan. John Duffield
Greetings John, how nice to have you here. I actually do believe that there is one underlying illness and that all these issues are just symptoms. But then, I’m pretty sure you already knew that. My goal was to find out which symptoms are getting the most attention. Armed with that information I can tailor my articles to help connect the dots so to speak. Gotta tell you John, I immediately got a smile on my face when I saw that you had left a comment, even before I had a chance to read it. I’ve been with coaching clients all day and really appreciate the chance to bask in your refreshing perspective.
What a wonderful survey! I am not surprised by relationships being the number one thing that people want to change – it seems to be the first thing that people push to the side when life gets stressful, unfortunately. I am glad that the respondents are so positive about changing though. Interesting.
Marcelina Hardy recently posted..Strive for Perfection for Success
Hi Jonathan,
I used your survey results in a blog post I wrote this morning.
Of course, I linked your blog post.
Marcelina Hardy recently posted..How to Improve Your Love Relationship