Doing 1 on 1 health coaching for a year now, I’ve realized that THIS tool can be the game-changer in helping a person really take action towards reaching their goals, whether they be health-related or otherwise.
If we all can figure out our values, connect to them and make our daily choices and life decisions from that place, we would live life with more of a sense of inner peace and fulfillment. Our values, whether we know them consciously or not, can really be the driving force for a lot of our behaviors.
If you value having good health, connect to that and let that drive you to make those healthier choices in your daily life. When what we do and how we behave doesn’t match our values, we can be feeling all sorts of messy! Internal conflict, stress, unhappy, unfulfilled, etc.
You can follow this basic protocol to figure out your values:
–Define your values- what’s important to you? what matters most to you? When were you the happiest in your life? When you answer these questions, you will be able to figure out what you value most. Also, remember it’s ok to go back and redefine our values as we learn more and grow.
–Take a close look at your life and see how your time is spent (this can really show us if we prioritize our values or not)
–See how you can make daily choices that honor your values.
Some of my values are faith/prayer, being active, eating healthy, family, some good old entertainment, mental health, balance, being respectful, learning, productivity and taking action, being responsible, creativity, consistency, inner beauty, kindness, fairness, close friendships, connecting with others, self-control, etc. This is definitely not an exhaustive list of mine. Also, some I struggle with, some I desire to have, and some that come easily to me.
Other values can be fashion, make up, organization, sports, leadership, competition, practicality, simplicity, strength, adventure, travel, community, boldness, loyalty, functionality, etc. Of course, there’s definitely more universal values that almost all humans appreciate, but we each tend to have our own particular preferences of them.
I’ve been taking courses on the 4 temperaments (sanguine/phlegmatic/meloncholic/choleric) with @isaaq.mohammed (he can be found on IG) called “knowing yourself” which has given me a good amount of insight into my own behaviors and natural tendencies and also other people’s behaviors and tendencies. So much of who we are is because of our nature (the 4 temperatments) and so much can be because of our nurture (how we were raised/what we were exposed to, etc.) Once you’re more aware of yourself, your weaknesses and strengths, your likes and dislikes, your personality traits, your principles and values etc. you can really try to improve and balance yourself and reach your life goals.
Other benefits of knowing yourself is that you’ll be less “judgey” of others behaviors when you know your own flaws. Also, when you know yourself, you will seek less acceptance, approval and understanding from others (aka fitting in) because YOU understand yourself, your values and worth. Values will help you place boundaries where you need them. They will give your more confidence in your decisions. Sometimes you will have to choose between 2 different values, and at those times, see what feels more fitting for you and ask God to bless you in your affairs! 🙂