If the time comes and you decide to take new responsibility for your life, a good place to begin with self-assessment is to zero in on your guiding principles and values.  These unspoken signposts actually influence how you see yourself, where you sense you are and where you wish to go.  How clear you are about who you are and what you feel determines what you would like to achieve in life as well as the ingenuity and resourefulness you would draw on to make it happen.

Taking the bull by the horns means facing a situation head on without refusing to be honest with yourself.  If you're unsure about your guiding principles, its vital to your future to isolate them.  Consider what issues you believe in or what ideas you would support.  If you asked people who know you, how would they describe you? What kind of character traits and qualities define you?  Would you consider these outside opinions to reflect who you truly believe you are inside?

Take self-assessment further:

• Who are your role models? Why do you admire them? How does this shape your values? 
• Who would you offer as examples of people who are incompatible with your values? Why?
• What do you like and dislike about yourself? How do these views influence your values?
• Where would you indicate 5 strengths and weaknesses? How do values evolve from both?
• How would you like to change yourself? What do these desires tell you about your values?