THIS WEEK'S FIX: THE 5 WHYS

 

What do you value?

Dig down for a second.

• What's most important to you in life? Why?

• What kind of person do you want to be? Why?

Are you living those values?

 

Every day?

 

Deep health is a matter of meeting your expectations in all dimensions of health: physical, mental, emotional, relational, environmental, and existential.

 

View the diagram above for a description of each of these.

 

Being out of sync with your values in any of those dimensions will impact feeling healthy and living your best life.

The connection between the brain (psychology) and body (physiology) is important. The brain is the body.

Knowing what's important to us and why gives humans direction and purpose. How well you're aligned to a psychological set of values will show up biologically in body health.

The reverse is also true, that biological health deeply affects psychological health.

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Strong values are powerful.

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Living according to strong values can make life and good health flow, seemingly effortlessly.

 

Do your actions match your values?

The 5 Whys exercise aims to cut to the core motivations: the deepest reasons for why you want what you want.

For example,

"I want to lose weight."

1. Why do I want to lose weight?

Because I want to fit into a smaller size of pants.

2. Why do I want to fit into a smaller size of pants?

Because when I'm wearing smaller pants, I think I'll look better.

3. Why do I want to look better?

Because when I look good, I feel good about myself.

4. Why do I want to feel good about myself?

Because when I feel good about myself, I'm more assertive and confident.

5. Why do I want to be more assertive and confident?

Because when I'm more assertive and confident, I'm in control and better able to get what I want out of life.

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That's a lot of insight for a few little questions.

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For this client, losing fat really meant being in charge of life.

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That's a crucial insight.

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They're not just looking for a smaller pair of pants (or a lower weight on the scale).

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They also want to feel a certain way at the end of the process. More confident. More assertive.

More in control.

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That's what's fundamentally important to them, and that's what the most enduring motivation will be, through the most difficult obstacles and resistance.

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Pant sizes and weight loss can still be an important piece. They're a way to measure a journey towards confidence and a sense of control.

 

The Moxie Weekly Fix (Owner's Manual)

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It's time to reflect. In a notebook or journal, or even on a post-it note, set aside a few minutes to answer the following questions.

 

See what your 5 Whys might be, by answering the following questions.

 

(Remember that each answer builds on the one before it. Keep asking why, building on the previous answer, until you arrive at a deeper understanding of what drives you, or what meaning this goal has to you.)

1. ​WHAT, exactly, do you want to do (What is your primary goal? Be specific.)

2. Why do you want to [insert goal]?

3. What feels important about [insert goal] to you?

4. And why is that [answer to question 3] important?

5. And what difference will that [answer to question 4] make?

6. And why will that [answer to question 5] matter?