Start With Values

Start With Values (Penguin Random House) invites you on an empowering journey of self-discovery, purpose, and transformation. Through practical tools, thought-provoking experiments, and heartfelt insights, this book reveals how your values—both personal and collective—shape every aspect of your life.

Brad Hook, founder of the Values Institute and a leading voice in resilience and leadership, shares his decades of expertise as an executive coach, mentor, and researcher. With clarity and passion, he explores how aligning with your core values can unlock authenticity, resilience, and deeper connections.

Divided into three transformative sections, this book is your guide to living a values-driven life:

  • Discovering Your Values: Unearth the core principles that drive you, using practical tools and thought experiments to illuminate your purpose.
  • Living Your Values: Learn how aligning with your values fosters resilience and well-being, enabling courageous action even in the face of challenges.
  • Sharing Your Values: Explore the power of collective values to create meaningful relationships, foster community, and inspire change.

This is more than a book—it’s a compass for anyone seeking to lead with authenticity, thrive under pressure, and make a meaningful impact. Whether you’re recalibrating your career, strengthening relationships, or simply seeking clarity in a complex world, Start With Values will guide you to a life of purpose, courage, and fulfillment.

“Start with Values” provides a compass that can help you navigate the complexities of modern life.  It will help you find your north star, your purpose, as well as yourself.  If leading a worthy life matters to you, and I suspect it does, I recommend you start with this book.

Dr. Tal Ben-Shahar, New York Times Bestselling author of Happier, No Matter What, Happiness Studies expert and teacher of two of the largest classes in Harvard University’s history

Defining our values is an essential step to fulfilment – yet few of us take the time to do so. Bradley Hook is the ideal guide to set us on this journey. Your future self will thank you for reading this book.

David Robson, Author of The Expectation Effect and The Laws of Connection

Derived from his years of experience speaking and training in the areas of psychology, philosophy, and neuroscience, Brad provides an overly generous menu of easy-to-follow practical tools and proven exercises that are an essential part of any meaningful improvement process. The secret to life certainly does all Start with Values. I can’t recommend this book enough, as it could well be the start of your revitalized life.

Ian Hutchinson, Founder & Chief Engagement Officer, Life by Design. Australian Educator of the Year.

Do you want a more fulfilling and happy life? “Start With Values,” by Bradley Hook, is a must read. This easy-to-read book identifies the crucial role that values play in your life. You also learn practical tools to discover and define your core values, turn your values into habits and practice, and build a more meaningful life with satisfying relationships – all backed by research and science.

Dr. Terri Orbuch, Distinguished Professor & Author of “5 Simple Steps to Take Your Marriage from Good to Great.”

Brad Hook’s book is an engaging, heartwarming, and insightful read. It is a powerful wake-up call to the realization that our values are the source of our actions. Brad provides an actionable pathway to live a fulfilling life through owning and being responsible for our core values.

Lloyd Fickett, Founder of The Collaborative Way and bestselling author

The book is loaded with practical suggestions that you can action in your own life. It is respectful of our different perspectives and priorities. Importantly, Brad reminds us that transitions in life call for renewal. Our values must flex with our own journeys and the environments we find ourselves in.

Start with Values is a keeper. You can work your way through all of it or you can dive into the parts that call to you. Go back to it and keep your values alive and aligned.

Dr. Sven Hansen, Founder, Resilience Institute

Resilience Mastery

In Resilience Mastery, the findings from the Resilience Institute’s extensive survey of over 20,000 individuals lay the foundation to explore the essence of resilience in the modern world. The book identifies 11 pivotal factors – from well-understood concepts like focus, purpose, and optimism to lesser-acknowledged essentials such as sleep quality, vitality, and values alignment.

While every individual encounters setbacks, the resilient persevere, harnessing a unique combination of physical, emotional, and cognitive strengths. They navigate life’s hurdles with focus and grit, always ready to recalibrate and rebound. This book takes readers on a journey through each resilience factor, interlaced with inspiring narratives of those who have conquered their realms.

Brad Hook delves into the intriguing idea that humanity operates on an antiquated system, often manipulated by external forces such as groupthink, alluring marketing, and digital addictions. The challenges presented by these influences are juxtaposed against our innate responses – freeze, fight, and flight – that, while evolutionary protective, might no longer serve us in our complex landscape.

Resilience Mastery calls for an evolution. To thrive, we must cultivate presence, renew our sense of purpose, and foster vitality. By choosing challenges that resonate with our deepest values, we align our actions with genuine purpose. The book is more than just a guide; it’s an invitation to master the skills that unleash our innate potential, ensuring that we don’t just survive but flourish in our ever-evolving world.

Surfing Life Waves

Our existence is deeply intertwined with waves; they are omnipresent in both the tangible and intangible realms. From the easily discernible waves such as light, sound, and electrical, to the intricate quantum waves that form the foundation of our very reality, waves influence our lives in profound ways. These waves are not just physical manifestations; they parallel the experiential waves of opportunities that continually shape our life’s journey. Opportunities that present themselves in various forms, be it chances for love, success, happiness, adventures, failures, or a plethora of other enriching experiences.

Drawing inspiration from the world of surfing, “Surfing Life Waves” delves into the mindset of a surfer — individuals who have mastered the art of riding the ocean’s waves. Their approach serves as a powerful metaphor for navigating life’s myriad waves. Surfers exhibit passion, commitment, and an enviable sense of detachment as they dance with the waves, teaching us the importance of being in the moment, achieving flow, and finding joy in the process. Life, much like the ocean, is replete with waves waiting to be ridden. Every wave is an opportunity, a lesson, or an adventure. How we recognize and ride these waves — seizing them with passion, navigating challenges with commitment, or sometimes just letting them pass with detachment — defines our unique journey. It’s a reminder that life’s waves are plentiful and ever-present. The art and choice of how to embrace them, enjoy them, and learn from them, lies entirely in our hands.