Every complex system, whether it is a factory machine, a computer, or a human being, must be congruent. The parts of the system must work well together, and every action must support every other action if it is to function at a peak level. If the parts of a machine are trying to go in two different directions at once, the machine will be out of sync and could potentially fall apart.
Human beings are no different. We can learn to produce the most effective behaviors, but if these behaviors do not support our deepest needs and desires, if these behaviors encroach upon other things that are important to us, then we have internal conflict, and we lack the congruency that is necessary for success on a large scale. If a person is getting one thing but sort of wants something else, he will not be totally happy or fulfilled.
In order to change, grow, and prosper, we have to become conscious of the rules we set for ourselves and for others, of how we really measure success or failure. Otherwise, we may have everything and still feel like nothing. This is the power of the final and critical element called values
What are values? They are quite simply your own personal, private, and individual beliefs about what is most important to you. Your values are your belief systems about right, wrong, good, and bad. Maslow discusses artists, but the idea applies universally. Our values are what we all basically need to move towards. If we don't, we won't feel whole and complete. That feeling of congruity, or personal wholeness and unity, comes from the feeling that we are living out our values through our current behavior. They even decide what you will move away from. They decide your whole life-style. They decide how you will react to any given experience in life. They are a lot like the executive level in a computer. You can put in any program you want, but whether the computer accepts the program, whether it uses it or not, all depends on how the executive level was programmed by the factory. Values are like the executive level of judgment in the human brain
From what you wear to what you drive, where you live to whom you marry (if you marry) or how you raise your children, from what causes you support to what you do for a living, the list of the effects of your values is endless. They are the foundation that determines how we react to any given situation in life. They are the master key to understanding and predicting your behavior and the behavior of others the key to unleashing the magic within.
Discovering someone value is sampling matter of finding out the most important to him or her. In knowing that you can be more effectively know not just there needs but your own.
"A musician make music, A artist must paint, a poet must write, if be to be ultimately at piece with himself"
