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The Values Factor: The Secret to Creating an Inspired and Fulfilling Life
Based on his landmark research and teachings, Dr. John Demartini has discovered the key to fulfillment in all aspects of life.
What is the most important step you can take to achieve the life you’ve always dreamed of? You might think the answer is something like, start saving money, get a better job, find my soul mate , or improve my marriage . Solutions like these might offer temporary satisfaction, but none of them can provide true, lasting fulfillment or help you achieve your unique purpose in life.
The Values Factor shows you how to create a life in which every minute can be inspiring and fulfilling. The first step is to identify what you find most meaningful—the values in life that are most important to you. Once you understand your own unique values and align your life accordingly, you can achieve fulfillment in every aspect of your deepening your loving relationships, creating an inspiring career, establishing financial freedom, and tapping into a rich spiritual life.
Dr. Demartini’s provocative thirteen-part questionnaire will reveal to you what you value most. The answers may surprise you! Then, each chapter of this book explains how to align every aspect of your life with your true values, so that you can finally achieve the success that you were capable of all along.
What is the most important step you can take to achieve the life you’ve always dreamed of? You might think the answer is something like, start saving money, get a better job, find my soul mate , or improve my marriage . Solutions like these might offer temporary satisfaction, but none of them can provide true, lasting fulfillment or help you achieve your unique purpose in life.
The Values Factor shows you how to create a life in which every minute can be inspiring and fulfilling. The first step is to identify what you find most meaningful—the values in life that are most important to you. Once you understand your own unique values and align your life accordingly, you can achieve fulfillment in every aspect of your deepening your loving relationships, creating an inspiring career, establishing financial freedom, and tapping into a rich spiritual life.
Dr. Demartini’s provocative thirteen-part questionnaire will reveal to you what you value most. The answers may surprise you! Then, each chapter of this book explains how to align every aspect of your life with your true values, so that you can finally achieve the success that you were capable of all along.
400 pages, Paperback
First published September 3, 2013
313 people are currently reading
1704 people want to read
About the author
John F. Demartini
70 books163 followersDr Demartini is considered one of the world's leading authorities on human behavior and personal development. He is the founder of the Demartini Institute, a private research and education organization with a curriculum of over 72 different courses covering multiple aspects of human development.
His trademarked methodologies, the Demartini Method and the Demartini Value Determination, are the culmination of 39 years of cross-disciplinary research and study. His work has been incorporated into human development industries across the world.
Dr Demartini travels 360 days a year to countries all over the globe, sharing his research and findings in all markets and sectors. He is the author of 40 books published in 28 different languages. He has produced over 50 CDs and DVDs covering subjects such as development in relationships, wealth, education and business. Each program is designed to assist people to activate leadership and empower themselves in all seven areas of their lives: Financial, physical, mental, vocational, spiritual, family and social.
His trademarked methodologies, the Demartini Method and the Demartini Value Determination, are the culmination of 39 years of cross-disciplinary research and study. His work has been incorporated into human development industries across the world.
Dr Demartini travels 360 days a year to countries all over the globe, sharing his research and findings in all markets and sectors. He is the author of 40 books published in 28 different languages. He has produced over 50 CDs and DVDs covering subjects such as development in relationships, wealth, education and business. Each program is designed to assist people to activate leadership and empower themselves in all seven areas of their lives: Financial, physical, mental, vocational, spiritual, family and social.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 55 reviews
May 19, 2024
To understand yourself you must understand your values. To understand others you must understand their values. This book is a study of what drives human action which is our unique set of values. It helped me understand why some goals are easy for me to achieve while others seem to be very hard. It also helped me appreciate the people around me and understand why they do what they do.
As with most books, I found it to be overly long but I really enjoyed it. I re-read this book every year as a refresher. Understanding and implementing The Values Factor has changed my life. I am very grateful for this book.
**update - I’ve been read this book 6 times to date. It’s super repetitive but I still love it.**
As with most books, I found it to be overly long but I really enjoyed it. I re-read this book every year as a refresher. Understanding and implementing The Values Factor has changed my life. I am very grateful for this book.
**update - I’ve been read this book 6 times to date. It’s super repetitive but I still love it.**
May 8, 2018
This book is very powerful. In addition to breaking down in simple terms how your life is made up of voids and values, it includes hands-on exercises for determining what you do value, and therefore, what to focus on to create long-lasting happiness. With very simple shifts in perspective, life circumstances can change in profound ways, and this book helps get you there. I would like to re-read this book once per year to help re-evaluate what I value and where I'm at with my goals and dreams since our values are constantly changing. Highly recommended!
July 30, 2018
Life changing for anyone seeking answers to how to unlock thier inner gold. The accompanying Values Test offered at https://drdemartini.com/values/ was fantastic.
Dr. Demartni is brilliant and I look forward to reading his other work and seeing him live at the Breakout Event.
Dr. Demartni is brilliant and I look forward to reading his other work and seeing him live at the Breakout Event.
July 14, 2020
It was ok.
Pros: Getting you to really think about what brings value to your life is useful. That's in the first 20% of the book. Also a plus, I enjoyed the stories of his students putting his lessons into practice and seeing positive results.
Cons: It was quite long and repetitive. His reliance on dichotomy was both boring and bizarre; I don't live life in black and white, so reading "addiction" vs "subdiction" was pretty weird, as was "Attention Deficit Disorder" vs "Retention Surplus Order". His last chapter, using the Values Factor to improve wellness, was also bizarre- his example was his student who had diabetes- well, she still has diabetes (and still needs insulin), so I have no idea what his point was there. Did I mention it was long? And *extremely* repetitive? It reminded me of books like "The Count of Monte Cristo" (which started out as a serial novel), where Dumas was paid by the word. Demartini used "highest values" several times, per page, throughout the book.
Summary: The man REALLY likes lists. In order to see a change in your life, you should list (variously) 20, 50, or 2000 answers to the life questions he poses. I mean, it works for him... and I like lists myself... but the guy has an INTENSE love of lists. LONG lists. If that's your thing... you'll like this book.
NOT your thing? Go to https://drdemartini.com/content/values/. Finish the 10-minute exercise to find your values. Spend a couple days thinking about how your life does, or does not, reflect those values. Think of a few things you could change to tip the balance more in the direction of reflecting your values. Bam. I just saved you a couple weeks of reading. You're welcome!
Pros: Getting you to really think about what brings value to your life is useful. That's in the first 20% of the book. Also a plus, I enjoyed the stories of his students putting his lessons into practice and seeing positive results.
Cons: It was quite long and repetitive. His reliance on dichotomy was both boring and bizarre; I don't live life in black and white, so reading "addiction" vs "subdiction" was pretty weird, as was "Attention Deficit Disorder" vs "Retention Surplus Order". His last chapter, using the Values Factor to improve wellness, was also bizarre- his example was his student who had diabetes- well, she still has diabetes (and still needs insulin), so I have no idea what his point was there. Did I mention it was long? And *extremely* repetitive? It reminded me of books like "The Count of Monte Cristo" (which started out as a serial novel), where Dumas was paid by the word. Demartini used "highest values" several times, per page, throughout the book.
Summary: The man REALLY likes lists. In order to see a change in your life, you should list (variously) 20, 50, or 2000 answers to the life questions he poses. I mean, it works for him... and I like lists myself... but the guy has an INTENSE love of lists. LONG lists. If that's your thing... you'll like this book.
NOT your thing? Go to https://drdemartini.com/content/values/. Finish the 10-minute exercise to find your values. Spend a couple days thinking about how your life does, or does not, reflect those values. Think of a few things you could change to tip the balance more in the direction of reflecting your values. Bam. I just saved you a couple weeks of reading. You're welcome!
August 22, 2014
If you have felt out of touch with your inner voice/guide too long, this book contains useful exercises and a comfortable storytelling approach to expand understanding.
If you feel like you are already on your path, this book could reinforce your work.
For some, you may find that the book contains nothing original or new to you. This book is not intended to appeal to your intellect and broad capacity for thought. Read it and appreciate it for its simplicity.
If you feel like you are already on your path, this book could reinforce your work.
For some, you may find that the book contains nothing original or new to you. This book is not intended to appeal to your intellect and broad capacity for thought. Read it and appreciate it for its simplicity.
July 7, 2014
This book is one of the best that I have read ever. It is powerful in the common sense way that Dr. John Demartini explains how we are all successful in following our highest values; albeit, we may be following them without our own knowledge. The book explains how that works, and helps us understand our own uniqueness and our unique set of value where no two are alike exactly. At first that makes it clear enough why many don't get along with others, yet goes on to say how to enhance a mutually beneficial sharing by recognizing not only our own, but the highest values of others, then using ways to help each other meet those values in ourselves and in the other at the same time. I sure could have made great use of this book had I been open to it early in life, yet there is always time to change, and that time is always going to be now.
I've bought several copies and passed them out to people just to share a bit of the wealth that I have gained from this great book. I have enjoyed so many of Dr. Demartini's books, and this his latest is the best so far.
I've bought several copies and passed them out to people just to share a bit of the wealth that I have gained from this great book. I have enjoyed so many of Dr. Demartini's books, and this his latest is the best so far.
July 18, 2014
It's okay, I found it a useful tool.
I think it would work great if you are the author, and may be for others, they need to find their own way. Just my impressions.
It's about finding your values and living by them. It's not very useful for actually finding said values, in my experience, but it's ok.
A more realistic book to counterbalance DeMartini's unjustified rationalist optimism that everyone can live by values would be Cal Newport's book on why following your passion is an error, "So Good They Can't Ignore You."
I think it would work great if you are the author, and may be for others, they need to find their own way. Just my impressions.
It's about finding your values and living by them. It's not very useful for actually finding said values, in my experience, but it's ok.
A more realistic book to counterbalance DeMartini's unjustified rationalist optimism that everyone can live by values would be Cal Newport's book on why following your passion is an error, "So Good They Can't Ignore You."
December 14, 2024
Really great book for bringing awareness to what you truly value in life. It highlights things that you are doing (spending your time, attention, filling our house with, talking about) into categories to see what you truly value.
I found this book interesting and very helpful to find out what I wanted to do in life. Having read it a few years ago, it’s interesting to see where I began saying what I valued and what I actually put down to my assumed values & where my life has gone which was my values but lower on the list.
Then, there are some unique exercises , such as writing a statement about how values will improve your life. But not just one statement. It’s about writing as many statements as you can think of to fill multiple pages in order to rewrite your brain to believing deeply that what you truly value can truly happen in your life.
This book was bought as a Christmas gift from one of my first mentors in life and I highly recommend it to others.
I found this book interesting and very helpful to find out what I wanted to do in life. Having read it a few years ago, it’s interesting to see where I began saying what I valued and what I actually put down to my assumed values & where my life has gone which was my values but lower on the list.
Then, there are some unique exercises , such as writing a statement about how values will improve your life. But not just one statement. It’s about writing as many statements as you can think of to fill multiple pages in order to rewrite your brain to believing deeply that what you truly value can truly happen in your life.
This book was bought as a Christmas gift from one of my first mentors in life and I highly recommend it to others.
January 7, 2025
Nemaniau, kad šita knyga bus man tokia vertinga. Rekomenduoju.
July 11, 2020
Immense, another one for my top 5
November 20, 2014
Demartini has good insight into values, especially when relating to others. His writing style is reminiscent of motivational speakers or podcasts rather than literature. It irritated me that he claims to value research and writing, but he rarely cites anything and he writes like a person speaks. But personal qualms aside, his ideas are insightful and helpful. He provides anecdotal stories to serve as proof, while I don't buy it as proof for the advice, they do serve as proof for his genuine concern for the rest of humanity. In a world of cold wisdom and uncaring knowledge, he gives a unique positive warmth to my library.
October 11, 2020
It’s a bit repetitive. Basically, know your highest values and align that to your life.
He has about 10 questions to help flesh it out.
https://christianleeby.com/files/Dema...
I found his idea of values coming from voids more powerful though.
For example, what do you not have in your like that you want. From voids you can find your hidden values.
Always connect your highest values to your goals or you won’t be motivated.
He has about 10 questions to help flesh it out.
https://christianleeby.com/files/Dema...
I found his idea of values coming from voids more powerful though.
For example, what do you not have in your like that you want. From voids you can find your hidden values.
Always connect your highest values to your goals or you won’t be motivated.
January 13, 2020
I always enjoy reading good books, great books and then there are books that are life changing... not because they are discovering something new , but because the concept that its explained simply resonates with your life and who you are at this very moment , so it’s easy to understand and apply the learning. “ Aja!! Moments “ and “now I get it”
This are the changing books in my life .
This are the changing books in my life .
March 6, 2022
This book seems like a 5000 words school assignment where you have repeat two or three nain ideas over and over to met the requirements.
I won't deny the necessity of making a list with your top values (which I did and worked out pretty well), but I suspect this guy of being a fraud. Do yourself a favour and skip the book.
I won't deny the necessity of making a list with your top values (which I did and worked out pretty well), but I suspect this guy of being a fraud. Do yourself a favour and skip the book.
July 9, 2025
A 5+ book and I should definitely re-listen in following years!
ALIGNING GOALS WITH VALUES. When your goals don’t align with your core values, life feels like a constant struggle, lacking energy and purpose. True fulfillment comes from aligning actions with your own unique values rather than those imposed by society, family, or friends. Values are as unique as fingerprints, originating from within rather than from external expectations. To uncover your true values, reflect on what society, family, or friends value and explore how your own priorities differ. Reflect on what you think others expect of you and what might upset or disappoint them. By letting go of societal “shoulds” that don’t resonate with you, you free yourself to dream authentically. Think about what you feel is missing in the world - your frustrations and the voids you perceive often reveal what you value most and what you should pursue.
IDENTIFYING YOUR VALUES. Exercises such as examining what you consistently spend time on, what excites and energizes you, and where you allocate your resources (like money or attention) can help clarify your highest values. Write down all your “I SHOULD” thoughts - these often come from external rules or authority figures like family, friends, or culture. Contrast these with “I’D LOVE TO” - thoughts based on your personal desires and passions. Additionally, consider what you visualize, speak about often, or feel most connected to. Even tasks you dislike can tie back to your values if they ultimately support them in creative or indirect ways. The greatest voids in your life - areas where you feel something is lacking - are often the source of your greatest potential, pointing toward the values that will drive your growth and purpose.
BALANCE BETWEEN CHALLENGE AND SUPPORT. Life isn’t meant to be all ease and pleasure. True growth and evolution require a balance of challenges and support. Pain and suffering, rather than being roadblocks, are opportunities for growth and achieving your highest potential. These moments of struggle often bring you closer to new levels of skill, insight, and fulfillment. Parents often fail to recognize the unique genius in their children because they project their own values onto them instead of understanding and nurturing their child’s individual values.
LEADERSHIP AND CERTAINTY. Success and leadership come when you align your actions with what you are deeply obsessed with learning and growing in. A true leader isn’t someone who follows trends but someone who is extremely certain of their path, inspiring others by being authentically driven by their unique values. People are naturally drawn to those who are aligned and confident in their purpose.
GRIEF AND BALANCE. Grief often stems from idealizing the past and focusing only on the moments that brought joy or dopamine-driven highs. To truly move forward, this book encourages balancing your perspective - list both the positive and negative aspects of what you miss, whether it’s a person, a relationship, or a stage of life. Recognizing both the good and bad helps you see that no experience or person is entirely perfect or completely flawed. Love, too, is a balance of joy and hardship, and acknowledging this balance allows for deeper gratitude and understanding of relationships.
FILLING THE VOID. Your greatest voids - what you feel is missing in the world or your life - are the source of your highest potential. Frustrations or problems you experience, such as not speaking up, feeling controlled by others, or dissatisfaction with certain dynamics, reveal areas where growth is needed. Problems are not obstacles in the way; they are on the way to your highest goals. Life must include challenges, difficulty, and even pain to help you grow toward greater aspirations and higher values. Balance between ease and struggle is essential for reaching new heights in personal development.
DHARMA OVER KARMA. Living with Dharma means living in alignment with your purpose and values, while Karma represents the consequences of your actions. When external circumstances seem to fall apart - such as losing a business or a marriage - this can represent a profound freedom: the chance to rebuild life in absolute alignment with your true self and values. Liberation comes from seeing these moments not as failures but as opportunities to start fresh and pursue what truly matters to you.
TELOS AND PURPOSE. TELOS represents your ultimate end goal, the purpose that drives all your decisions and actions. For some, this might be teaching or guiding others, creating change, or mastering skills. Whatever your TELOS is, it should be rooted in your deepest values and the path that fulfills your specific destiny. When you live for your highest values, you unlock the ability to create, teach, inspire, and innovate in ways that resonate deeply within your soul.
CHALLENGE AND GROWTH. Growth and fulfillment are impossible without challenges. Pain, difficulty, and obstacles are vital for personal evolution - they are the resistance that drives development and higher purpose. Problems are reminders to keep growing, refining, and adapting. Viewing them as opportunities rather than barriers transforms your relationship with life and empowers you to reach new levels of skill and understanding.
ALIGNING VALUES AND RELATIONSHIPS. When your values aren’t aligned with your partner's, relationships tend to fall into harmful cycles. If you value your own values more than your partner’s, you might come across as self-righteous, careless, or expecting them to conform to your standards. On the other hand, if you value their values more than your own, you might find yourself walking on eggshells, putting them on a pedestal, and doubting yourself. True harmony comes when you value each other equally - where both your plates are filled. This creates opportunities for mutual growth and appreciation. Most relationships go through the cycles of overemphasis (A and B) until common ground (C) is found. To build this balance, focus on finding connections between your values and your partner’s. A great exercise is identifying both partners’ top values and asking, “How does my dedication to my top values help fulfill or complement their top values?” This creates dialogues, not monologues, and fosters win-win solutions instead of compromises. Additionally, the book emphasizes that we can distribute our “perfect life partner” qualities across several people in our lives - no single person needs to meet all our emotional, intellectual, or social needs. This relieves pressure on any single relationship and prevents feelings of neediness.
CREATING LINKS BETWEEN VALUES. To motivate actions in yourself or others, you need to link specific tasks or goals to the highest values. For example, if one partner values beauty and expresses love through beautiful clothes for their children, but the children don’t appreciate this, the parent can learn to express love in the children’s “language.” Similarly, the book suggests creating 10 different associations for any task or activity to show how it aligns with your (or someone else's) values. For example, if profit growth in your business feels irrelevant, answer "Why would higher profits benefit my deeper values?" multiple times until a connection becomes clear. Repeating these exercises, even up to 200 times, strengthens the alignment and motivation for action.
ADDICTIONS AND PATTERNS. Behaviors that some consider addictions are often old strategies to fulfill unmet needs. To begin overcoming these patterns, write 200 reasons why the behavior benefits you and then brainstorm alternative, healthier ways to meet those needs. The key is not to vilify these habits but to understand their purpose and replace them with viable alternatives. No pattern is inherently a disease - it is just an outdated coping strategy that can be redefined.
SUPPORT AND CHALLENGE. Both support and challenge are necessary for growth. If life gives too much support, you will naturally seek challenge elsewhere. For example, following a work trip with a romantic getaway helps balance the lack of connection during work. Similarly, elevate business lunches from routine to opportunity-filled networking sessions. Life thrives on this constant balance, ensuring growth and evolution.
LEADERSHIP AND CERTAINTY. Leadership and teaching require obsession - focus on learning and growing within your domain of passion. A leader is someone others follow not because of skill alone but because of certainty and alignment with purpose. People gravitate toward those who are most aligned with their values and confident in their direction. To develop leadership skills, identify the field you are most obsessed with learning about - what pulls you to explore and grow? Additionally, understand that loyalty, even to your own company, is based on value alignment. Employees, customers, and even you will only stay loyal to an organization if it aligns with personal values.
ALIGNING GOALS WITH VALUES. When your goals don’t align with your core values, life feels like a constant struggle, lacking energy and purpose. True fulfillment comes from aligning actions with your own unique values rather than those imposed by society, family, or friends. Values are as unique as fingerprints, originating from within rather than from external expectations. To uncover your true values, reflect on what society, family, or friends value and explore how your own priorities differ. Reflect on what you think others expect of you and what might upset or disappoint them. By letting go of societal “shoulds” that don’t resonate with you, you free yourself to dream authentically. Think about what you feel is missing in the world - your frustrations and the voids you perceive often reveal what you value most and what you should pursue.
IDENTIFYING YOUR VALUES. Exercises such as examining what you consistently spend time on, what excites and energizes you, and where you allocate your resources (like money or attention) can help clarify your highest values. Write down all your “I SHOULD” thoughts - these often come from external rules or authority figures like family, friends, or culture. Contrast these with “I’D LOVE TO” - thoughts based on your personal desires and passions. Additionally, consider what you visualize, speak about often, or feel most connected to. Even tasks you dislike can tie back to your values if they ultimately support them in creative or indirect ways. The greatest voids in your life - areas where you feel something is lacking - are often the source of your greatest potential, pointing toward the values that will drive your growth and purpose.
BALANCE BETWEEN CHALLENGE AND SUPPORT. Life isn’t meant to be all ease and pleasure. True growth and evolution require a balance of challenges and support. Pain and suffering, rather than being roadblocks, are opportunities for growth and achieving your highest potential. These moments of struggle often bring you closer to new levels of skill, insight, and fulfillment. Parents often fail to recognize the unique genius in their children because they project their own values onto them instead of understanding and nurturing their child’s individual values.
LEADERSHIP AND CERTAINTY. Success and leadership come when you align your actions with what you are deeply obsessed with learning and growing in. A true leader isn’t someone who follows trends but someone who is extremely certain of their path, inspiring others by being authentically driven by their unique values. People are naturally drawn to those who are aligned and confident in their purpose.
GRIEF AND BALANCE. Grief often stems from idealizing the past and focusing only on the moments that brought joy or dopamine-driven highs. To truly move forward, this book encourages balancing your perspective - list both the positive and negative aspects of what you miss, whether it’s a person, a relationship, or a stage of life. Recognizing both the good and bad helps you see that no experience or person is entirely perfect or completely flawed. Love, too, is a balance of joy and hardship, and acknowledging this balance allows for deeper gratitude and understanding of relationships.
FILLING THE VOID. Your greatest voids - what you feel is missing in the world or your life - are the source of your highest potential. Frustrations or problems you experience, such as not speaking up, feeling controlled by others, or dissatisfaction with certain dynamics, reveal areas where growth is needed. Problems are not obstacles in the way; they are on the way to your highest goals. Life must include challenges, difficulty, and even pain to help you grow toward greater aspirations and higher values. Balance between ease and struggle is essential for reaching new heights in personal development.
DHARMA OVER KARMA. Living with Dharma means living in alignment with your purpose and values, while Karma represents the consequences of your actions. When external circumstances seem to fall apart - such as losing a business or a marriage - this can represent a profound freedom: the chance to rebuild life in absolute alignment with your true self and values. Liberation comes from seeing these moments not as failures but as opportunities to start fresh and pursue what truly matters to you.
TELOS AND PURPOSE. TELOS represents your ultimate end goal, the purpose that drives all your decisions and actions. For some, this might be teaching or guiding others, creating change, or mastering skills. Whatever your TELOS is, it should be rooted in your deepest values and the path that fulfills your specific destiny. When you live for your highest values, you unlock the ability to create, teach, inspire, and innovate in ways that resonate deeply within your soul.
CHALLENGE AND GROWTH. Growth and fulfillment are impossible without challenges. Pain, difficulty, and obstacles are vital for personal evolution - they are the resistance that drives development and higher purpose. Problems are reminders to keep growing, refining, and adapting. Viewing them as opportunities rather than barriers transforms your relationship with life and empowers you to reach new levels of skill and understanding.
ALIGNING VALUES AND RELATIONSHIPS. When your values aren’t aligned with your partner's, relationships tend to fall into harmful cycles. If you value your own values more than your partner’s, you might come across as self-righteous, careless, or expecting them to conform to your standards. On the other hand, if you value their values more than your own, you might find yourself walking on eggshells, putting them on a pedestal, and doubting yourself. True harmony comes when you value each other equally - where both your plates are filled. This creates opportunities for mutual growth and appreciation. Most relationships go through the cycles of overemphasis (A and B) until common ground (C) is found. To build this balance, focus on finding connections between your values and your partner’s. A great exercise is identifying both partners’ top values and asking, “How does my dedication to my top values help fulfill or complement their top values?” This creates dialogues, not monologues, and fosters win-win solutions instead of compromises. Additionally, the book emphasizes that we can distribute our “perfect life partner” qualities across several people in our lives - no single person needs to meet all our emotional, intellectual, or social needs. This relieves pressure on any single relationship and prevents feelings of neediness.
CREATING LINKS BETWEEN VALUES. To motivate actions in yourself or others, you need to link specific tasks or goals to the highest values. For example, if one partner values beauty and expresses love through beautiful clothes for their children, but the children don’t appreciate this, the parent can learn to express love in the children’s “language.” Similarly, the book suggests creating 10 different associations for any task or activity to show how it aligns with your (or someone else's) values. For example, if profit growth in your business feels irrelevant, answer "Why would higher profits benefit my deeper values?" multiple times until a connection becomes clear. Repeating these exercises, even up to 200 times, strengthens the alignment and motivation for action.
ADDICTIONS AND PATTERNS. Behaviors that some consider addictions are often old strategies to fulfill unmet needs. To begin overcoming these patterns, write 200 reasons why the behavior benefits you and then brainstorm alternative, healthier ways to meet those needs. The key is not to vilify these habits but to understand their purpose and replace them with viable alternatives. No pattern is inherently a disease - it is just an outdated coping strategy that can be redefined.
SUPPORT AND CHALLENGE. Both support and challenge are necessary for growth. If life gives too much support, you will naturally seek challenge elsewhere. For example, following a work trip with a romantic getaway helps balance the lack of connection during work. Similarly, elevate business lunches from routine to opportunity-filled networking sessions. Life thrives on this constant balance, ensuring growth and evolution.
LEADERSHIP AND CERTAINTY. Leadership and teaching require obsession - focus on learning and growing within your domain of passion. A leader is someone others follow not because of skill alone but because of certainty and alignment with purpose. People gravitate toward those who are most aligned with their values and confident in their direction. To develop leadership skills, identify the field you are most obsessed with learning about - what pulls you to explore and grow? Additionally, understand that loyalty, even to your own company, is based on value alignment. Employees, customers, and even you will only stay loyal to an organization if it aligns with personal values.
August 25, 2024
Values!
Hi!
I hope you are all doing well.
How are you spending your bank Holiday?
I’d like to share with me the thoughts from my latest read.
Yesterday, I completed “The Values Factor” by Dr. John Demartini. For those who doesn’t know him he contributed along with other very successful people in creation of the book and movie “The Secret” by Rhonda Bryne.
The book made me think about my true values and I’m still thinking now as writing this review.
I understood from the book that I need to align my life goals with my true values. This alignment will bring greater fulfilment, reduce stress and internal conflict because I would live authentically.
Prioritisation is a key aspect discussed in the book and should be respected because if you don’t do the important jobs at the beginning, you will fill that time with unimportant tasks.
Demartini differentiates between being inspired and being motivated. When you’re living in alignment with your highest values, you’re naturally inspired and energized. In contrast, if you’re trying to pursue goals that are not aligned with your values, you might need external motivation to keep going.
This book made me appreciate how to understand others. Recognizing other people unique set of values helps in understanding and communicating better with them. This improves relationships, whether personal or professional, as you can appreciate and respect others' values even if they differ from my own.
I came to the conclusion that if I don’t find my true values, I will end up spending too much time helping other people achieve their true values. Don’t take me wrong, is good to help other people and friends achieve their highest values, however this act should be balanced and this way we’ll achieve the harmonisation much desired, by helping each other.
In life everything is balanced; we can’t have pleasure without the pain negative without positive bad without good we need to understand that and to leave the emotions aside when taking decisions and taking the life as it comes. There are some great examples in the book.
By setting goals that align with your highest values, you’re more likely to achieve them because they resonate deeply with what you truly care about. This approach ensures that your goals are meaningful and sustainable in the long term.
Now, I have a question to you. What are your true values?
Hi!
I hope you are all doing well.
How are you spending your bank Holiday?
I’d like to share with me the thoughts from my latest read.
Yesterday, I completed “The Values Factor” by Dr. John Demartini. For those who doesn’t know him he contributed along with other very successful people in creation of the book and movie “The Secret” by Rhonda Bryne.
The book made me think about my true values and I’m still thinking now as writing this review.
I understood from the book that I need to align my life goals with my true values. This alignment will bring greater fulfilment, reduce stress and internal conflict because I would live authentically.
Prioritisation is a key aspect discussed in the book and should be respected because if you don’t do the important jobs at the beginning, you will fill that time with unimportant tasks.
Demartini differentiates between being inspired and being motivated. When you’re living in alignment with your highest values, you’re naturally inspired and energized. In contrast, if you’re trying to pursue goals that are not aligned with your values, you might need external motivation to keep going.
This book made me appreciate how to understand others. Recognizing other people unique set of values helps in understanding and communicating better with them. This improves relationships, whether personal or professional, as you can appreciate and respect others' values even if they differ from my own.
I came to the conclusion that if I don’t find my true values, I will end up spending too much time helping other people achieve their true values. Don’t take me wrong, is good to help other people and friends achieve their highest values, however this act should be balanced and this way we’ll achieve the harmonisation much desired, by helping each other.
In life everything is balanced; we can’t have pleasure without the pain negative without positive bad without good we need to understand that and to leave the emotions aside when taking decisions and taking the life as it comes. There are some great examples in the book.
By setting goals that align with your highest values, you’re more likely to achieve them because they resonate deeply with what you truly care about. This approach ensures that your goals are meaningful and sustainable in the long term.
Now, I have a question to you. What are your true values?
August 23, 2025
I added The Values Factor to my 2025 list of books as I've enjoyed reading John Demartini's books in the past. This one is an insightful guide to understanding and aligning your life with your highest values. What was really cool, was to simultaneously listen to this book while I was reading John Assaraf's The Answers & Gay Hendricks' The Big Leap. Reading these simultaneously, I felt the material really synchronized and gelled.
Dr. John Demartini walks you through the process of identifying what truly matters most to you and shows how using your core values as a compass can bring clarity, motivation, and fulfillment. I enjoyed when he highlighted this with clients by asking the following question, 'what is it that I love to do, and how can I get handsomely paid for doing it'.
I loved how practical and reflective this book is. It helped me rethink how I set goals and make decisions, ensuring they’re aligned with what I genuinely value rather than what I “should” value. When you find yourself saying, I need to do, I should do X - the 'need to' and 'should's' are coming from someone else's highest values and not your own. Because if you're doing what you love, then you're in perfect synchronicity - similar to Gay Hendricks' Zone of Genius.
This book also blends personal exercises with real-life examples, making the concepts easy to apply.
I especially appreciated how well it complements books like The Big Leap and The Answer. Together, they form a powerful trio: Demartini helps you clarify your purpose, Hendricks guides you past self-imposed limits, and Assaraf provides tools to manifest your goals.
I gave it 5 stars only because some sections felt slightly repetitive, but the core message is impactful and practical. If you’re looking to gain deeper self-awareness and live a life that’s truly aligned with your passions and priorities, this book is worth the read—especially as an audiobook!
Dr. John Demartini walks you through the process of identifying what truly matters most to you and shows how using your core values as a compass can bring clarity, motivation, and fulfillment. I enjoyed when he highlighted this with clients by asking the following question, 'what is it that I love to do, and how can I get handsomely paid for doing it'.
I loved how practical and reflective this book is. It helped me rethink how I set goals and make decisions, ensuring they’re aligned with what I genuinely value rather than what I “should” value. When you find yourself saying, I need to do, I should do X - the 'need to' and 'should's' are coming from someone else's highest values and not your own. Because if you're doing what you love, then you're in perfect synchronicity - similar to Gay Hendricks' Zone of Genius.
This book also blends personal exercises with real-life examples, making the concepts easy to apply.
I especially appreciated how well it complements books like The Big Leap and The Answer. Together, they form a powerful trio: Demartini helps you clarify your purpose, Hendricks guides you past self-imposed limits, and Assaraf provides tools to manifest your goals.
I gave it 5 stars only because some sections felt slightly repetitive, but the core message is impactful and practical. If you’re looking to gain deeper self-awareness and live a life that’s truly aligned with your passions and priorities, this book is worth the read—especially as an audiobook!
January 3, 2023
Did not finish - August 2022.
Heard someone mentioning this book was helpful for them in a podcast and got audiobook from local library. Wow, this book is trash, though it only becomes entirely apparent a little ways in, since the exercises themselves seem fine (at least at the point I stopped) but the ideological undercurrents are appalling and propped up by tossing around "science" irresponsibly.
First hour of audiobook was just an advertisement without clear scientific backing for why this stuff works (TM) -- a little bit of hype at the beginning of a book like this is fine, but the amount of pages devoted to it was excessive.
But from there we quickly get to increasingly questionable anecdotes and pseudo science once we get past the lengthy intro.
In one early example, the author blames people's illnesses on their body trying to call them to their highest values!!! BULL. And continues to try to use pseudo science to justify it, noting that challenges cause "mylinzation" in the brain if people rise to those challenges, and keeps going on from there with "physiology" and "predator/prey" nonsense.
The author uses terms like “law of nature” but basically just skirts around law of attraction with all this.
Mindset matters, but sometimes people get sick and their highest values have nothing to do with it. Sometimes people have bad luck, and that's the real "law of nature." There are lots of better ways to change your mindset to help you pursue changes to your life than the garbage ideas propping up this book.
The early exercises don't seem like they're bad -- think about what you feel like you "should" do and where that message is coming from, reflect on what you love and find inspiring, identify values and revisit quarterly -- but the surrounding text and what it promises are a toxic ideology to internalize, and nearly identical exercises are out there in the internet and so many other self help books too (e.g. not so different from the exercises in Atomic Habits).
Heard someone mentioning this book was helpful for them in a podcast and got audiobook from local library. Wow, this book is trash, though it only becomes entirely apparent a little ways in, since the exercises themselves seem fine (at least at the point I stopped) but the ideological undercurrents are appalling and propped up by tossing around "science" irresponsibly.
First hour of audiobook was just an advertisement without clear scientific backing for why this stuff works (TM) -- a little bit of hype at the beginning of a book like this is fine, but the amount of pages devoted to it was excessive.
But from there we quickly get to increasingly questionable anecdotes and pseudo science once we get past the lengthy intro.
In one early example, the author blames people's illnesses on their body trying to call them to their highest values!!! BULL. And continues to try to use pseudo science to justify it, noting that challenges cause "mylinzation" in the brain if people rise to those challenges, and keeps going on from there with "physiology" and "predator/prey" nonsense.
The author uses terms like “law of nature” but basically just skirts around law of attraction with all this.
Mindset matters, but sometimes people get sick and their highest values have nothing to do with it. Sometimes people have bad luck, and that's the real "law of nature." There are lots of better ways to change your mindset to help you pursue changes to your life than the garbage ideas propping up this book.
The early exercises don't seem like they're bad -- think about what you feel like you "should" do and where that message is coming from, reflect on what you love and find inspiring, identify values and revisit quarterly -- but the surrounding text and what it promises are a toxic ideology to internalize, and nearly identical exercises are out there in the internet and so many other self help books too (e.g. not so different from the exercises in Atomic Habits).
October 6, 2024
I wasn’t expecting to love this one so much. It was mentioned in an off hand comment in a podcast I was listening to, and it just happened to be available on hoopla so I decided to give it a try.
I listened to it, and then got a physical copy on thrift books because I want to go back through and listen while reading and doing all of the exercises.
I’ve been struggling with clarity for the future lately and this was honestly a god send.
I feel like everyone would benefit from this book, the whole thing is so on point.
My only complaint is the narrator in the audio book has the worst infection, he sounds like a snotty brat, which was really off putting, but after I worked on ignoring it, I was able to move past it. That had nothing to do with the quality of the content.
5/5 highly recommend.
I listened to it, and then got a physical copy on thrift books because I want to go back through and listen while reading and doing all of the exercises.
I’ve been struggling with clarity for the future lately and this was honestly a god send.
I feel like everyone would benefit from this book, the whole thing is so on point.
My only complaint is the narrator in the audio book has the worst infection, he sounds like a snotty brat, which was really off putting, but after I worked on ignoring it, I was able to move past it. That had nothing to do with the quality of the content.
5/5 highly recommend.
July 7, 2023
This book made a lot of sense; Demartini helps you to define your highest values - the things that motivate you to succeed - it might be giving your kids a great life or helping people to excel. He shows you how to look at tasks you hate and link them to your highest values. He covers a lot of key life areas like finances, health and relationships. I did learn from this book but it’s better if you buy the book snd do all of the exercises - they’re quite demanding eg listing 200 things you like about your job/partner/ kids etc. However at the back of my mind I kept thinking - here’s another white American male trying to tell me the best way to succeed! And when he mentioned Donald Trump as a success I vomited into a bucket 🤣🤮
August 25, 2024
The actual content of the book was interesting, and the exercises the author has you do to identify your values and so on make a lot of sense and are clear and easy to follow. But I was REALLY turned off by him spending 30 pages of introduction talking all about how amazing he was and that it was because he was living his values (so we can, too!) It felt very self-aggrandizing and almost like a grift. But I actually loved the chapter about how to identify what my actual highest values are (not just what I think they are). I didn't really agree with his premise that our "voids" (ie problems, lack) is us drawing opportunities into our lives to live our values, because there are just things you don't have any say in what happens to you. I didn't finish, but might go back later, I don't know.
November 26, 2017
The first part of the book was helpful in understanding how I could identify my highest values, as well as figuring out ways to link my activities to those values. This is definitely a great thought experiment and one that has been helpful to me already. The rest of the book became a little repetitive and even a bit "woo-woo" for my liking. I also noticed how prominently the author referenced his other training courses which detracted from the insightful messages and ideas in the book.
May 18, 2023
Not so many people read this book, perhaps because its cover isn't interesting, but it's solemnly marvelous. Some reviewers state that it's extremely repetitive, yet I genuinely wanna say that it's Meaningfully repetitive. I have read about more than 100 self help books since 10 years ago, including Think and Grow Rich, The Power of Now & The Untethered Soul, & still The Values Factor is to me the top three in terms of its life-changing capacity. Try it & you may never regret it.
June 14, 2020
I finally figured it out the detail behind my driving force, and how to apply it to my life. Hard work to get to the truth of what really drives, and worth this journey! I am ecstatic that my life is falling into place/I am accepting it because I am now working to my highest values. I have no shame in my declaration of my values.
December 23, 2020
I highly recommend this book for anyone who wants to discover their Highest Values, especially if they are confused about why their results do not match what they think their values are. Dr John Demartini gives step by step instructions on how to find what you really love, why it may be different from what you `say' you love.
November 17, 2023
This is a highly practical book. I will be re reading it in the future. Perhaps many times. It is hopeful and inspiring, and cuts the fluff, explaining it's theories and practices plainly and simply. For anyone who wants to understand human behaviour, themselves, their customers, or their employees, this book is a must read
August 2, 2021
Great insights on being aware and understanding your highest values - true wisdom comes from a balanced mind, seeing and appreciating things just the way they are, embracing both the joy and pain of life. Enjoyed the different perspectives offered by the author.
March 16, 2022
This book is exceptional!!! This book is definitely a read for everyone and definitely adds fulfillment and Value (no pun intended) to your life. This I recommend highly to anyone looking to exceed in every part of their life from mindset to success and relationship.
September 2, 2022
This book helped me narrow down some major life decisions. It's part workbook and full of what's important in life, to you! We're all different and different things make us happy; this is a must read for anyone feeling 'off' in life.
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