What Matters Most : The Power of Living Your Values

by Hyrum W. Smith

• ISBN13: 9780684872568
• ISBN10: 0684872560
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-10-12
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Summary

"People who are happy recognize their success has come from who they are as much as from what they have accomplished. What Matters Most will give you the courage to be yourself and live a life of integrity."-- John Gray, author of Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus In an age of unprecedented prosperity and opportunity, there are still many who feel that something is missing in their lives: "I've achieved success and am on the fast track in my career, I'm respected by my peers, I have a great family and all the toys and perks that I could possibly want. Why don't I feel a stronger sense of fulfillment, or any real happiness inside? Why does life feel so empty?" In What Matters Most, bestselling author and speaker Hyrum W. Smith outlines compelling reasons for this dissatisfaction. Much of it comes, he says, because of conflicts between our actions and our deeply held personal values.In the rush and press of life, too many of us have lost touch with what matters most to us -- values like close family relationships, spending time with family and friends, participating in fulfilling work, giving of self in service to others, following our own light, and achieving long-held dreams and creative goals. Through compelling examples from others and drawing from his own extensive experience, Smith outlines a simple but powerful formula to help you identify your own deeply held values -- what matters most in your life -- and live them to the fullest. This strategy consists of three valuable steps: Discover -- First, you must discover what matters most to you. What would you like to have, what would you like to do, who would you like to be? Plan -- Then you must make a plan. By organizing those values and recognizing the order of importance into which they fall, you can begin to reconcile the actions of everyday life with your deeper needs and dreams. Act -- Finally, you must act on that plan, bringing those very principles into your home, your workplace, and the community around you. By incorporating Smith's strategy into your life, you will not only re-embrace your values, you will make them your priority. What Matters Most is an indispensable and timely guide to living a truly fulfilling life and becoming the person

Author Biography

Hyrum W. Smith is the author of the bestselling book The Ten Natural Laws of Time and Life Management, and is a highly sought-after international speaker and the originator of the Franklin Planner. His other books include Where Eagles Rest and The Advanced Day Planner User's Guide. His own priorities include making a difference in people's lives, spending time with his family, and horseback riding. He and his wife, Gail, are the parents of six children and live on a ranch in the high desert of Southern Utah.

Table of Contents

Foreword	11	(4)
Ken Blanchard
Introduction: Mount St. Helens, or Why You Should Read This Book	15	(12)
Part One: The Power of Knowing Who You Are	27	(40)
Heroes: People Who Know Who They Are	31	(16)
``One Hundred Years Ago They Had More Time''	47	(11)
``Someday I'm Going to . . .''	58	(9)
Part Two: Discover What Matters Most to You	67	(56)
``What E'er Thou, Art, Act Well Thy Part''	73	(9)
What Are Your Governing Values?	82	(24)
What Is Your Personal Mission in Life?	106	(11)
``The Greatest Force in Creation . . .''	117	(6)
Part Three: Doing Something About What Matters Most	123	(56)
Use the Inherent Power in Planning	127	(9)
``Make It So!''	136	(18)
What's on Your Belief Window?	154	(25)
Part Four: What Matters Most---the Broader View	179	(48)
Organizations Also Need to Know Who They Are	181	(10)
What Matters Most: Influence in a Wider Circle	191	(13)
Life Is Not Set in Concrete	204	(9)
Your Inner Reward: Living the Abundant Life	213	(14)
Conclusion: You Can Do It!	227	(12)
Index	239

Excerpts

Chapter 1 Heroes: People Who Know Who They Are There is no chance, no fate, no destiny that can circumvent, or hinder, or control a firm resolve of a determined soul. -- Ella Wheeler Wilcox It has been said that we live in an age when there are no heroes. I strongly disagree. While teaching and speaking with people about how to find and live by their deeply held values, I have heard about many heroes who have been role models and sources of inspiration for people both famous and obscure.If I were to ask you to make a list of the heroes in your life, you would probably come up with several people you admire who have had an impact on your personal or professional life. There have been many such heroes for me, individuals for whom I have immense love and respect, who have brought out the best in me, and whose lives or characteristics have inspired me to find out who I really am.Winston Churchill and England's Darkest HourPerhaps my reasons for talking about heroes can best be illustrated by referring to one of my own sources of inspiration, Winston Churchill. He has been one of my heroes since high school when another hero, a high school teacher (more about him later), first awakened my interest in history and I became aware of Churchill's vital role in the outcome of World War II. In recent years I have been taken aback to learn that many of those who have grown up since World War II know so little about him. He appears to be just a name if he shows up on their radar scopes at all, whereas I believe Winston Churchill's actions were pivotal in one of the great and most dramatic turning points of civilization.We must start with the fact that the future did not look at all promising for England's survival in May 1940 when Churchill became its prime minister. A little more than twenty years had passed since Britain and her allies had defeated Germany in what was widely considered "the war to end all wars." But now the reborn military might of Adolf Hitler's Nazi Germany was overrunning Holland and Belgium and pushing into France in what seemed to be a crushing replay of the opening of the earlier war. This time the German blitzkrieg appeared to be unstoppable.For most of the previous five years Hitler had thumbed his nose at the world community, rearming his nation and reoccupying former German territory given to France after World War I. He had engineered the German annexation of Austria in a bloodless coup. In the so-called Munich accords in the fall of 1938, Hitler had used deceit to persuade England's Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and France's Premier Edouard Daladier to give in to his demands to occupy and "protect" the German-speaking portions of Czechoslovakia. That done, Hitler promptly gobbled up the rest of the country less than six months later. Only late in this period had the British begun to rearm themselves, and they were seriously outnumbered in terms of men in uniform and modern military equipment. They could only hope that France's strong army would be able to deter further German moves.In September 1939, Hitler's armies entered Poland, in direct defiance of the promises he had made at Munich. The British and French, having promised to aid Poland if it was attacked, reluctantly declared war on Germany. It was a case of too little, too late because within weeks Hitler subdued and occupied Poland.In May 1940, after a winter in which the armies of Germany and France faced each other across the fortifications of France's supposedly impregnable Maginot Line, Hitler appeared to be unstoppable again. Wheeling through the Low Countries, the German tanks simply outflanked the French border fortresses, and they appeared capable of quickly reaching Paris.The proclamation of "peace for our time" with which Chamberlain had originally hailed the Munich agreement with Hitler had turned out to be anything but. On May 9 th