If you ask, most people can tell you what they believe is important to them.

When they answer, they will likely talk of goals, plans, ambitions, objectives, hopes and dreams.

Yet, I believe there is really only one way you can tell what is truly important to a person.

It’s the way they behave.

Your behavior, especially your repeated behavior will show you (and the world) what is truly important to you.

To be more specific, I believe there are three ways that you can figure out what is truly important to you:

– How you spend your money
– How you spend your energy
– How you spend your time

Take a look at the last 3 months of your life, and there is likely to be a pattern that forms around these 3 factors.

You might be surprised to find that the way you spend these 3 precious resources is very different from what you tell people is important to you.

The Ancient Greeks gave us the phrase ‘know thyself‘. They believed that without an understanding of who we are, there was no hope of understanding anything else.

I believe that one of the best ways to truly know thyself is to simply watch thyself. Your repeated behavior will tell you what’s really important to you.

Whenever I hear myself telling other people that something is important to me, I do a quick review of whether or not I have spent any money, energy, or time on it lately.

If the answer is yes, I know I am on track.

If the answer is no, I know I am bullshitting myself, and need to either make a change, or stop talking.

– DMS