The Foundation of who you are: Your value system

The following is taken from one of the chapters of my soon to be published book: "Fitness From The Inside Out."

‘Knowing that you are going to be hanged in the morning focuses the mind wonderfully.’ Samuel Johnson

21. The foundation of who you are - Your Value System:

Personal core values are the very core of who we are. They are values you hold closest to your heart. Think of the core of an apple. It is within the core, in the centre where the seeds of its life potential are held – it’s the same with you.

Whatever core values you ‘settle for’, create yourself expression and dream. What you hold up to support you on the inside, you express like a mirror image in the physical world on the outside.

Choosing to endorse our highest core values is perhaps the most important step in self help. When you act from a place of integrity within ourselves, in line with our highest values we will positively be boosting our self esteem.

Expressing your life in alignment with these core values is fundamental to enjoying self esteem and self empowerment, and implementing the keys to your happiness and dream.

If you are not living the values that are nearest and dearest to you, it is important to discover this and address it. Relying on values that are ‘handy’ and that ‘work for others’, are the same as settling for the good looks of a shiny apple skin. You may be painting a picture that looks like an apple, but it only has the appearance. The look and feel of the apple skin does not offer you the potency, true wealth and fulfilment potential held in the seeds within the core!

By delving beneath the surface, you discover your own personal core values, and the power of setting and achieving goals true to your heart then becomes apparent.

Never ever make a critical decision in your life without having your value system at the forefront of your thinking. No matter what you are doing in your life, what your personal circumstances are or what decision you are making - whether they be personal or professional they must come from your value system. They should be based on a win - win, not a profit for you and a loss for the purchaser.

Honour yourself first. You certainly can tell a’ porky’ to someone's face and you may think that you got away with it and thought that you outsmarted the person you told the porky to but ultimately you cannot cheat you and you know the simple truth. Be careful with this one because life has a funny way of paying us back in all sorts of weird and wonderful ways, it may not be that day, or the day after, but it will come back at you in some area of your life, when you least expect it.

You can be a good person when you are successful. Just because you have financial wealth in your life it does not give you the right to be an jackass. Financial stability does not equate to being prosperous in all areas of your life.

Situations and circumstances throughout your life are continuously changing, your value system does not, this is what I call my eternal guide, my rock. Without these in my life I have no direction and no depth as a human being. Your values will hold you in good stead for the long term so do not sacrifice them for short term ‘feel good for 5 minutes’ results.

Values hold you in good stead when you encounter a situation in your life that you know does not quite feel right whether that be professional or personal; you know you get this delivery speech from somebody that it convincing you that you should take this direction or that in your life and something within your internal radar mechanism tells you that this ain’t quite right, it don’t feel that good, it does not resonate or your ‘gut’ tells you that something is not lining up with you here: trust this beacon and go with your intuition, 9.9 times out of 10 this will be your correct path.

Be aware of your environment, who is in your company and what the other persons values are that are passing on this message to you, never deviate from what is important to you to get a result for someone else’s benefit.

Treat others as you would expect them to treat you.

Personal core values and beliefs drive our motivations and actions. Gain further self understanding and clarity around these vitally important underlying factors. Ask yourself what values are you presently upholding as most important in your life? Are these truly the ones required to see you to your dreams? Also ensure that your subconscious programming is supporting you, and try not to be the captain of your ship and sail in a direction you have no desire to go! As with low flying and toxic people rid yourself of negative unsupportive beliefs and then empower yourself with positive self talk.

I personally have found that for me to get ahead I went through what I called ‘growing pains’ that shaped me as a person. This resulted in me concluding that a major contributing factor to live the life of my dreams was my character development. Right up to a few months toward the end of my growing pains period I had put financial development before character development and my life literally kept recreating the same outcomes over and over again.

Make a list of the 10 – 20 values that are most important to you for what you want to achieve in your life. Rank those values in order of importance for you to achieve your dream. You can refer to people that you truly admire as role models for their achievements e.g. Mother Teresa, Ghandi, Nelson Mandela, Barrack Obama. Think of the one that you greatly admire and think what they have achieved in their lives, what life has given to them, and who it has benefited. Now think about what the perfect life of your dreams looks like. What kind of person would you be, what would you be doing if you were living your dream?

Reflect on the core values closest to your highest aspirations and dreams. Compare the differences to the values that you currently have in your life (if any!?) This will give you the ability to how you can bring your life in to alignment between your inner desires, actions, and outcomes.

I experienced an excellent variation in the above exercise. I found it extremely enlightening, and realised that I hadn’t been living in line with my personal core values. They were fine values that I had been upholding, but they were not my potent personal core values.

TIPS: Self-Analysis:

· Think about two to five values that have shaped your life. If necessary, refer to the list above. Also think about specific ways they have benefited you in your life.

· Now review the list above and consider which one or two new values you would like to implement in your life. Now think about the specific ways you can implement them. Then come up with a detailed action plan (using specific dates for action) to implement the values in your life. Make sure you review your plan down the line to evaluate the progress you are making so far.

· Make your values, including, your new values the cornerstone of your life. Contemplate them deeply and see that they fill all aspects of your life and being.

Seasonal Fitness Mentalities

If you take a look at the animal kingdom, you'll notice that acquatic mammals in colder climates naturally develop a layer of blubber to stay warm in the winter. To some degre, we humans also have similar instincts during the winter months.

There are a number of ways that the seasonal changes of a cooling climate are making us fatter. In fact, winter is contributing to our fatness in the following ways:

Just like a polar bear and otter, it is possible that humans develop an extra layer of "blubber" to keep warm. Some studies have shown that children who are born during cold winter months are significantly more likely to become obese as adults. If you have a litle one on the way, you better turn the heater up!!

Anybody who wakes up to the sunlight in the morning, or who has fallen asleep during a movie when the lights are low knows that sunlight helps to keep yuo awake and energised. Without that sunlight shining in the evening, we tend to wind down earlier and relax. You know what that means.....less activity and less calories burned.

People are more likely to get into shape when their bodies are exposed. Going swimming in the summer, wearing a tank top or t-shirt to the mall....those motivations are gone in the winter. You won't have the same pressures to look good for others.

Let's face it, you're not going to be spending the same amount of time playing ball in the park when it's cold. When you finally exercise, you're more likely to use the treadmill or an abdominal gadget in your nice warm home. Getting out to the gym where you can do some good weight lifting and retrain your lean body mass is more difficult. As you lose your lean body mass (muscle), your metabolism slows down.

At first, you would that that less cooking means less gain in weight. That would be true if less cooking meant less eating. Again, when the sun sets earlier, it feels later than it really is. Instead of going outside and having a barbeque at 7 p.m. you are more likely to find yourself sitting in McDonalds drive through.

Yours enthusiastically

Rod Bannister