Success Starts with Knowing Your Personal Values

If you are looking for more success in your life the place to start is to know and understand your personal values. Whether you are looking for greater success in your career, relationship or social life, the first step is understanding your personal values. Knowing and understanding your personal values is the critical first step before developing a vision, mission or brand. It is a key determinate in whether you find your work enjoyable or not. This is true for both individuals and businesses. Without knowing and understanding your personal values first you will struggle succeeding and growing.

What are your personal values?  They are the reasons behind every decision you make. No matter how big or small. Your personal values are what's behind the decisions you like and don't like -- why you ate too much at dinner, why you have your job, are married to your spouse, chose to drive or walk to work. 

For most decisions that people make there is a set of 5 core values that are at work. Finding these core values does take some work - thought, observation, and testing. You have to be honest with yourself about what value you are honoring too. Are you living according to what your values actually are or what you want them to be? Once you know and understand your values you can start to make conscious decisions about your choices and behavior and whether they align with your values.  You can even choose to change your values over time.

Without understanding your personal values the decisions you make are inconsistent and often at odds with each other. As a result, you end up fighting yourself and success is harder to come by.

How do you discover what your values are and understand them?