A value is something that you believe in. Something that is important to you. If you are aware of your values and live and work by them, then only then can you be authentic. Sometimes the things we believe to be our values are actually the values of our parents, our mentors or teachers and not our own. Jung said that nothing affects the child more than the unlived dreams of the parent. Dr Phil McGrath (on Oprah) said that our parents write on the slate of our lives. Sometimes it can be hard to figure out what our own, personal, true values are at all. And remember, it is good to be different, to be unique. This exercise should help you.

Task: Consider the values that were held by your parents, mentors and teachers. Write a list of them.

Task: Take a look at the values you wrote down, above and consider which of those you feel you should share, and those you actually do share.

Task: Thing about the times when you truly felt successful, when you surprised even yourself how well you did. Write a list of these times.

Task: Now take a look at the list above. Can you think of a value, of something you believe in, that helped inspire that success? For example, maybe you won a running race against all odds? The value that led you may have been 'practise' or 'self-belief' or 'hard work' or 'education' or 'teamwork'.

Task: Think about what success means to you? Is it money, freedom, life long learning, fame? Write down what success means to you, and you will begin to see your values emerge.

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