What are your values? How do you define success?
Meet John and Sarah. John values family and relationships number one. Sarah values business number one. Sarah becomes extremely successful in business while John nurtures his wife and children.
John and Sarah have very different personalities and have very different priorities.
We all have different priorities depending on our values. This difference can cause confusion or frustration with other people who may have a different set of values.
We tend to believe that others have (or should have!) the same values as we do.
Take John and Sarah. Perhaps they grow to resent each other. Sarah may feel like John is wasting his life; John may perceive Sarah as overly-ambitious or greedy.
Or, perhaps John compares his life to Sarah’s and feels like a failure. Sarah compares her life to John and feels like she has missed out on something huge in life.
If we think about it, I’m sure we can all think of someone who we struggle to understand. Their priorities seem so off to us. I’m sure we can also think of someone we envy to an extent; we wish we could be as focused as they are in a certain area.
When we can understand that we all have our own values we can understand why we do what we do, and why others do as they do. This understanding reduces the frustration and confusion.
So, what are your values? How do you define success?
