Discovering your values

Values are what your true self places importance on and all decisions whether conscious or subconscious are reflected against, hopefully bringing you closer to the things you value most. Now values change, they change as we age, mature, as you achieve goals and as circumstances change. Which is why it's important to occasionally recheck your values to ensure you are working towards your current values and not your old. This is an exercise I've done recently to help establish my values, what's important to me and whether my actions coincide with what my values are.

The exercise is as follows, list the Top 5 things from each category;5 things you spend the most money on;5 things you spend the most time doing; 5 things that energise or inspire you the most; 5 people you spend the most time with; 5 things you spend the most time thinking about; 5 things you enjoy the most;Once you’ve made your list, look and evaluate them. Do the things you spend the most money on, time doing and thinking about match with those you feel energised by and enjoy the most. If they do fantastic, your actions and your values sync.

If they don't then what needs to change so that the things you enjoy most and get inspired doing are those you spend the most time doing and thinking about?

The last part of the exercise is to get the people you spend the most time with to do the same.

Many far more motivational people than I have said “we are an average of the 5 people we spend most time with”. So by understanding your values and theirs you can see whether those people are helping you achieve your values or unfortunately not.