I believe that most peoples dissatisfaction comes from – in part – never having gone through the process of not only determining their top 5 or 10 values but also not deciding their priority to them. Most have an idea of things they will not tolerate or want to see in their lives. But when items come into conflict, lack of personal clarity can create a internal conflict of values. A tough example might be you lost your job, and having used up all of your savings, and your children are starving…but what if your top values are self reliance and family. Depending on your personal core values, would dictate the best way to handle.
One method is to write all the values you can think of, and write them individually on an index card. A list of over 500 values is available on https://corevalueslist.com Review the entire list, and choose the ones that resonate with you the most. At first don’t worry about order. We are just in the selecting the ones that we feel most aligned. After your initial pass, if you have it down to less than 20, you can start working on a priority order for you. Carefully review the definitions. Carefully consider which one ranks higher for you than others. Once you have them in what you believe are your final order. Take a couple of days away from this, and then come back and review your top list and the order. If everything still feels like it is aligned with you, great Set aside and come back again in a couple of weeks and do the review process again.
Another method would be to take all the values and put on a spreadsheet, and select the values that resonate with you the most. Everything above applies. The only difference is whether is it physical or electronic.
Once you are consciously aware of your top values and there order of priority to you, then examine whether you are living your life by this. If not, review the list to verify your top values, or else decide to make decisions that are aligned with your values.
This process should also be performed for any business you are considering starting. Consistency with your core values should help you with pursuing your goals. If not, check to see if your goals are aligned with your core values.