How to Utilize Your Values to Achieve Your Health Goals

Do your health and fitness behaviors fall by the wayside when life gets challenging?

Do you avoid exercising when you’re busy at work or not feeling up to it?

Do you only focus on your eating skills when you want to change how you look?

If you find yourself disregarding the requisite behaviors and actions leading to a happy, healthy life, it isn’t because of a lack of self-control, motivation, or personal responsibility...

…But because you’re not focused on who you want to be and how you want to live your life.

Instead of homing in on specific, time-based, aesthetic (and often unrealistic) health and fitness goals, it’s time to start at the very beginning.

It’s time to stop focusing solely on changing your body shape and size, which seldom leads to long-lasting and fulfilling change.

Instead, it’s time to focus on crafting, developing, and iterating on the secret to a long-lasting transformation: your values.

What Are Values?

Firefighters value saving lives.

Whether it’s grabbing a lost cat from a tree, or rescuing a human from a burning building, they get up each day with the same drive and determination. They don’t wait until they’re “motivated” or “feeling it”; they wake up with the intention of saving lives because that’s who they are.

If they fail to rescue someone, or otherwise have a bad day, they don’t clock off, or declare they’ll start again on Monday.

Their values always keep them committed to the cause.

Values are extensions of ourselves.

They’re defined by what we elect to find meaningful in our lives. They’re the fundamental component of our psychological make up and, ultimately, our identity [1].

These statements, character strengths, and morals dictate how we want to always act and behave; they represent how we want to treat ourselves, others, and the world around us.

• If we value challenging ourselves, then going to the gym to try new exercises or pushing our bodies to their physical capabilities becomes an exciting prospect, rather than feeling fearful of how we’ll look or act while exercising.

• If we value self-respect, we’re more likely to choose a nutritious, satiating, and enjoyable meal, rather than selecting the low-calorie, bland—and often offensive—option because we fear fat gain.

• If we value time spent with family, we’re more likely to engage in healthy, gratifying activities, rather than avoiding these moments because we’re scared of the way we look or how we’ll perform.

Our values are constantly reflected in the way we choose to behave.

Not only do values ensure we focus on particular character strengths over specific dieting methods—for example, displaying self-compassion and self-acceptance over banishing carbohydrates from our lives—but they promote greater internal motivation as well [2].

Ascertaining your values before anything else will provide you with direction. These are not necessarily defined by what you want to achieve but reflect your deepest desires for how you want to behave as a human.

They will mean you’re always living your life like a firefighter.

Values will always matter, even if goals, emotions, and circumstances change.

Why Are Values Important To Health And Fitness?

Many people set out on their health and fitness journey to accomplish a specific goal.

While there may well be a time and a place for such endeavors, the majority of these ventures are often detrimental to long-lasting progress and change.

Not only do such constricted ambitions corner people into a dichotomous “success” or “failure” mindset, but they often encourage unsustainable behaviors and, ultimately, heighten the temptation to deviate from the process that led them to that point once they’ve achieved that target.

It’s why people are unable to sustain the habits they try to instill into their lives.

Values, however, always exist. You can’t “beat” these principles nor do you typically ever stop striving to be a specific type of person.

You can “lose 20 pounds,” but you don’t ever stop trying to be a responsible individual. You can reach the goal of “deadlifting 200 pounds,” but you don’t ever cease to be a dedicated person. You can “lose weight for your summer vacation,” but you don’t stop being a supportive individual to others around you.

Those who pursue their values are more likely to achieve their aspirations and derive greater fulfillment from doing so [3]. This clear sense of self-directed meaning provides us with a relentless supply of motivation [4].

Utilizing values to steer your behaviors and mindset means that you get to decide what they are. It’s no longer about what a specific diet instructs you to do, or even what your personal trainer or online coach decides.

You are now in control of how you want to lead your life.

• You’re now willing to deal with the discomfort of personal growth because it mirrors the resilient person you want to become.

• You’re now willing to keep persevering with the task of exercising regularly since that’s what a patient person would do.

• You’re now prepared to keep working on your eating skills, as you appreciate the benefits of operating as an individual who relishes challenges.

If we’re too caught up in how our bodies look, we risk eschewing the importance of other facets of our lives.

Values, however, provide us with an ongoing challenge and one that means we’re not consigned to falling for archetypal dieting rules.

Striving to be someone, rather than achieve something, provides a feeling of orientation, strengthens guidance, fuels motivation, and reduces the discrepancy between who you are now and who you want to be in the future.

Figuring Out What You Value

Should we wish to change ourselves, we must seek to change our values.

Unfortunately, we’re not always cognizant of what we value, or, if we are, we don’t always act in alignment with the life we truly want to lead.

Society doesn’t help us choose our own sense of meaning, instead providing us with a sense of worth with superficial wants, whether that be with the way we look or the materialistic items we buy.

• We may say we value health but often engage in destructive, quick-fix nutrition and exercise behaviors instead.

• We may declare we value discipline but always seek the easy option when faced with temptations and cravings.

• We may assert we value living a flexible life but are bridled by long-held nutritional beliefs that influence how we eat and drink at social events.

Many of us articulate aspirational values we wish we had to shield the values we actually have. Instead of confronting the type of people we really are, we hide ourselves under the concept of who we wish to become.

Instead, it’s time to figure out what you truly value.

Here are a few important questions to consider:

• What does a successful and meaningful life look like to me?

• What character strengths do I admire?

• What do I stand for?

• When in my life has a particular value been important?

• When have I violated this value, and has that been costly?

Unearthing why you want certain things from your life will help you unearth the values that underpin the life you’ve imagined for yourself. You may say you value living a healthy lifestyle, for example, but is this represented in your dietary and exercise choices?

Take the time to single out three to five values that you want to embody that will act as guiding principles for the life you now want to lead.

This may bring up a sense of vulnerability and emotion. This is good. Figuring out values can reduce our defensiveness, reduces the burden of negative judgment from others, and helps us cultivate the feeling we’re making a meaningful difference in others’ lives.

How To Live By Your Values

Of course, singling out a few values from a line-up and hoping for the best isn’t enough. We must bind them with the necessary actions to live that particular way.

Chasing—and acting upon—these broad aspirations will reduce the likelihood of sacrificing long-term goal pursuit in exchange for short-term reward.

Think back to a moment when you felt particularly connected to one of the values you unearthed. What were you doing? What were you feeling? Who else was there?

Realizing a life of “commitment,” for example, can be supported with other, more specific goals when motivation is low, or unexpected obstacles arise. Increasing sleep, consuming more protein, or developing strength are all smaller goals that contribute to this wider ambition—and can be executed regardless of how you’re feeling or when you encounter unforeseen circumstances.

Further, setting a regular bedtime, taking the time to plan certain meals, and lifting weights are all behaviors that reinforce the idea of someone striving to display “commitment.” These contribute to that individual’s identity and are important in ascertaining how to achieve that ideal self.

Instead of letting concrete and inflexible goals lead the way—and therefore setting specific timeframes and increased opportunities for failure—we’re tying these into those guiding principles.

Ask: What specific actions contribute to the values you’ve established?

It’s crucial you also figure out any potential barriers you’ll encounter to living life by your values.

While external restraints—time, energy, and resources—may be easier to overcome, it’s often harder to conquer internal limitations, such as thoughts and emotions.

Do you feel restricted by your ability levels? Do you feel you should be implementing a certain behavior or reaching a specific goal that hinders how you want to live your life? Do you abide by certain rules that conflict with the values you respect?

It’s important to remember that you can have these thoughts and emotions but still act in alignment with your values.

• You can feel stressed and overwhelmed but still display the characteristics of a forgiving person.

• You can have the thoughts that you’re unworthy of living the life you want but still act in a successful way.

• You can display anxiety at missing a gym session or not planning a meal but still perform these behaviors to show you’re a flexible individual.

Sometimes thoughts are just thoughts.

Think about journaling or reflecting upon your values each day. Did you live in accordance with your values? Did any obstacles surface? If so, what thoughts and feelings emerged? What can you do tomorrow to continue practicing living by this value?

Implementing Your Values

Values are won and lost through life experiences.

You must act upon your new way of living for you to realize their effectiveness and for them to become part of your life.

Ensure you analyze your values—and your successes and failures—consistently. Those who do are the ones who make better decisions and generally triumph [5].

Question whether the habits you’re executing right now express those principles. Do they relate to the decisions you’ll need to make in the future? Once you get more practiced at letting these shape your choices, the demand to lean on them won’t be as forceful. They’ll almost become second nature.

It has also been shown that writing down and connecting with authentic values has more impact on behavior change and health than simply selecting them from a values menu [6].

You must, of course, start practicing the appropriate behaviors, as, once you realize the benefits of doing so, it will become easier to stick with them in the future.

• If you value independence, are you being self-supportive in your exercise habits?

• If you value patience, are you always adhering to the plan, no matter the emotions you’re experiencing?

• If you value acceptance, are you avoiding body checking in the mirror each morning?

We often lose sight of what actually motivates us.

Focusing on—and acting upon—our values, however, allows us to redirect our desire for meaning towards the pursuit of activities that align with what we truly find meaningful.

Food Body Self® Is Value-Based

Our Food Body Self® coaching program isn’t based on trivial and arbitrary goals and ambitions. We focus instead on the type of individuals we want to be and how this translates to our health and fitness behaviors.

We believe this is the best way of creating a life-changing transformation.

No longer are we consigned to rigid rules and uncompromising deadlines but are able to live the lives we want to lead, and recognize that our health and fitness behaviors can align with this.

Let your values lead the way.

References

1. Hitlin, S. (2003). Values as the Core of Personal Identity: Drawing Links between Two Theories of Self. Social Psychology Quarterly, 66(2), 118-137

2. Lekes, N., Hope, N.H., Gouveia, L., Koestner, R., & Philippe, F.L. (2012). Influencing value priorities and increasing well-being: The effects of reflecting on intrinsic values. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 7(3), 249-261.

3. Parks, L., & Guay, R.P. (2009). Personality, values, and motivation. Personality and Individual Differences, 47(7), 675-684. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2009.06.002

4. Hayes, S. (2019). A Liberated Mind: The essential guide to ACT (pp. 224-245). Vermilion.

5. Huldtgren, A., Wiggers, P., & Jonker, C.M. (2014). Designing for Self-Reflection on Values for Improved Life Decision. Interacting With Computers, 26(1), 27-45.

6. Sandoz, E.K., & Hebert, E.R. (2016). Meaningful, reminiscent, and evocative: An initial examination of four methods of selecting idiographic values-relevant stimuli. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 4(4), 277-280.