How Our Internal Values Shape Our Health

“According to habit science, new behaviors are most likely to become enduring habits when they reflect core beliefs about ourselves, our cardinal values, our self-image–sometimes called our "identity"–and our surrounding physical and social environments. Identity and environmental changes are the seeds and fertile soil in which health behavior change can take root. Although healthy identities, relationships, and physical environments may not be available for purchase, they are achievable through learning, practice, and personal growth.

Forming a healthier identity and reshaping our environment to support this new identity is neither swift nor simple. For most people, the process more closely resembles a journey that can last for years or even the rest of their lives. However, the beginning of this journey can be initiated as soon as today through the recognition that few people consciously choose their identity. Instead, their core beliefs, values, and self-image are mostly taught through parents, schools, and early life and formative experiences. It is usually only later in life that we discover our abilities to self-author, rewrite or relinquish the past and see our world–as Shakespeare wrote–as a stage on which we can play many parts. Water invariably finds its level. In the same way, your identity–your core beliefs and values–inevitably find its form through your habits, relationships, and physical and mental health. And just as the shape of water can be transformed by putting it into a new vessel, your habits and quality of life can change by upgrading your self-image. Your health depends on it.

Key Points:

• Long-term changes to health habits are a goal for millions, often attempted but rarely successful.
• Health education, smartphone apps, and even wearable health tech have each failed as lasting solutions for most people.
• Research suggests that lasting changes in external health behaviors first require changes in our internal values and core beliefs.”

Read the whole article at Psychology Today

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