Today I’m gonna take a tangent from physical health and talk about mental health… which I would say is equally or sometimes more important depending on your situation. I want to talk about values and how they can drive you to achieve the goals that you want. Obviously, from a fitness stand point you might imagine I’m talking about goals such as losing weight or getting strong… but this shit goes well beyond that. I’m talking about any personal goal that you want to tackle so don’t pigeon hole this into the realm of fitness. It applies to everything.

So values, what the fuck are they? They are basically a set of rules that you live by, a code if you will. In my opinion, every god damn action you take should always be in alignment with your values. If it’s not, then you’re either completely aimless or you don’t know what you want to accomplish in life. Before you freak out, just remember that you can create your own set of values to suit your needs and you can always change shit around when needed.

Now, let’s address the next issue – why exactly do you need values? The simple answer is that without values, you will have no purpose. Your life will resemble a mindless, wandering zombie that is pushed around every time a slight breeze passes by. Without values you have no foundation or base to work from… which means you have nothing to stand up for. Not only is this highly unattractive, it’s also pretty fucking pathetic. I don’t care what you believe in, but stand up for something… anything! It will help you get to where you want to go. Guaranteed.

Because of the importance of values, it should be of no surprise then that coming up with your own will take a bit of time and serious thought. You can’t just sit around for 10 minutes, scribble together a list and say “There. Those are my values!”. They gotta represent shit that you believe in a 100 percent. And if you come up with values that you don’t believe in yet but want to for the future… then list them. We will talk about how to internalize them in just a second.

Beware Of The Value Paradox

When I talk about living in alignment with your values or internal code, the first thing most people say is: “yeah but I don’t want to live by a set of rules because that is very limiting and will cripple me. Im a free thinker yo!”

The actual fact is that 1) They don’t know what the fuck they’re talking about 2) They are not rules and 3) Living in alignment with your values actually has the OPPOSITE effect… it’s freeing. This is a paradox you need to hold in your mind and be ok with. To be honest, it does sound a bit whack when you hear: “Always live life in alignment with your internal code so you can be free”.

So to ease the paradoxical pain, let me give you a practical example: One of my core values is to not put up with bullshit from others. It doesn’t matter who it is, I simply do-no put up with stupid nonsense from another human being. Point Blank Period.

Since this is my core value, it sets a frame when I’m communicating and allows me to deal with douche bags on a level that you wouldn’t believe. I have consistency when I interact with people and 99% of the population show the appropriate respect, to whom I show the appropriate respect right back. But the 1% that try and fuck with me get their ass tooled. Why? Because it’s my core value to not put up with their shit, therefore I put my foot down and defend what I believe in. Either that or I ignore them completely as if they don’t even exist.

Have you ever wonder why some people let themselves get treated like a mud infested door mat… and then do jack all about it? It’s because they are lacking this core value. I don’t feel sorry for these people, I feel… disgusted. No, disappointed? Yeah, somewhere between disgusted and disappointed. Make no mistake about it, these people aren’t unfortunate, they let this happen to themselves. Unfortunate is being born in Ethopia where you have little to no access to food.

I’ve found that life is just so much better when you can have a genuine and fun interaction with others while skipping the bullshit and drama, and having a core set of values will allow this to happen. Now it’s time to apply all this mumbo jumbo practically. To help you, I’ve come up with…

The Value Building Plan

The first thing you need to do is create a list of personal values that you truly believe in… make sure the list is not too long (10 values max). An example would be:

1. I treat animals with more respect than humans

2. I do not put up with bullshit from others (except maybe my wife)

3. My stupid job comes before family and friends

4. The next time someone talks about Justin Bieber, I will punch them in the face

5. I always go after my goals until the bitter end

6. I respect and take care of my body so hot bitches will swarm my ass from left and right

Those are a few just to get you started… you might share these values or you might just be outrageously inspired by them. I’m just helping you get your brain juices flowing and shit. Just remember that your values should not be too specific nor should they be too broad. They have to apply to most situations in your life, which is why I had said that you will need to put some thought into this.

Once you have your list, you need to now memorize it till you can regurgitate that shit at will, and I mean at any point in time and in any state. If you truly want to be in-line with your values, then it’d be pretty stupid to forget them. Once you can remember them perfectly, start putting them into practice one at a time.

I cannot emphasise that enough… don’t go out into the world and try to live by all of your values all at once because you will end up with a fucking mental breakdown. This is a process that takes time and patience. Apply each value individually for one whole week… this means that you need to go on a 10 week mission. Sounds like a lot of work but believe me when I tell you, it’s one of the top 5 most beneficial things you can do in your lifetime. Bar none. It is THAT important.

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It’s time to do what your momma always told you to do, so let’s hear your values… you do have some don’t you? Even if you don’t have 10, I’m interested in knowing what your current internal code is made up of. So don’t feel shy, start working them fingers and list a few. Who knows? Some of them might just be awesome enough for me to adopt. By the way, here are a few of my actual values:

1. I do what I want, when I want.

2. I take care of my body and keep it in peak condition

3. I only help those that want to be helped

4. I go after what I want until I get it. Failure isn’t an option.

Cheers

- FitJerk

Originally Written By FitJerk for www.fitjerk.com – © 2010 All Rights Reserved – Content not to be republished without author consent.

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© 2010, By FitJerk. FitJerk.com is a division of Flawless Fitness Media – All Rights Reserved – No part of this post is to be republished without author consent under any forms of media (including print, internet, video or audio transcription). Doing so is a violation against copyright law and should be punishable by a punch to the face. All images are copyright of their respective owners.

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