Check your Vitals

Photo: Getty Images
Photo: Getty Images
It's vital we know ourselves, in order to have a full and satisfying life, writes Jan Aitken.

Jan Aitken
Jan Aitken

I was spending some down time the other day reading bits and pieces on the internet, when I found a blog by Meg Selig. Selig is the author of "Changepower", a blog that explores deliberate and conscious self-change, willpower, motivation and habits.

I was really taken with this particular blog about the importance of knowing and understanding ourselves. She spoke about the importance of knowing our Vitals. (Maybe it appealed to the nurse in me as much as it appealed to the coach in me!) Nurses are always interested in a patient’s vitals (vital signs), so looking at personal growth from the point of Vitals really struck a chord.

Selig has come up with what she calls the six building blocks of self, or Vitals.

Vitals stands for: values, interests, temperament, activity timing, life mission and goals, and strengths. I really liked the concept: it’s a fun way to think about your life and it’s fairly easy to remember. I’ve tweaked things a little to give them more of a Kiwi twist and make it a little more applicable to our way of life. Let’s go through them one by one.

VALUES

Values are those things that define you. There are many differing values people can hold, e.g. inclusiveness, creativity, integrity or adventure. Values are a great guide to making life decisions and setting goals. It’s been shown that just thinking or writing about your values can make it more likely that you will take healthy actions towards fulfilling them. Imagine what you could achieve if you took some time to actively discover your values! The motivation provided by worthwhile values can also keep you going even when you are tired.

INTERESTS

Interests include your passions, hobbies, and anything that holds your attention over a sustained period. To figure out your interests and passions, ask yourself these questions: What do you like to do? If you had half a day to do anything you wanted, what would it be? What are you curious about? What concerns you? What excites you? A focused interest in something makes life more vivid and may give you clues to your deepest passions.

TEMPERAMENT

Temperament refers to your inborn preferences. Do you recharge your internal batteries from being alone or from being with people: are you introverted or extroverted? Are you a planner who likes processes or are you more of a laidback person? Do you make decisions based on feelings or facts? Do you prefer details or big-picture ideas? Knowing the answers to temperament questions could help you gravitate towards situations in which you flourish and avoid situations in which you wilt.

ACTIVITY TIMING

Activity timing refers to when you like to do things, that is, your natural biorhythms. Are you a morning person or a night-owl? At what time of day does your energy peak or fall?

If you schedule activities when you are at your best, you are respecting your innate biology and things will be easier.

While the idea of biorhythm preferences may sound trivial compared to some of the other elements of your Vitals, your daily life is more pleasant when you are in sync with your biology. It is easier to enjoy life when you don’t waste energy forcing yourself to be someone or something you aren’t. However, it is important to be realistic, and this element of self may be the one most likely to clash with others if your biorhythms are different from those around you. You do have to consider the needs of your partner/family too. You may find being a late-rising night owl doesn’t fit in with your toddler’s rhythms or that of your boss.

LIFE MISSION AND MEANINGFUL GOALS

Ask yourself these questions: What have been the most meaningful events of your life? What is it about those events that is similar? What links them? What would you do tomorrow if time and money were not a problem? The answers to these questions can hold the key to what is important to you. It makes sense to orient your life around these things as they are the things that will give your life true satisfaction. Your values will most probably be reflected in your life mission and meaningful goals. This stuff doesn’t need to be earth-shattering; it’s about what is important to you and what you want to achieve in your life.

STRENGTHS

Strengths are your natural abilities, skills, and talents.

Are you an achiever, someone who can set their mind to a task; practical and helpful; or an includer who is accepting, tolerant and welcoming? There are too many strengths to list here but, like values, taking time to uncover your strengths pays dividends. Knowing your strengths is one of the foundations to self-confidence and accepting yourself. Using them to help orient your life to what you’re naturally good at is just good sense.

Take some time to check your Vitals. Get to know them and every now and then go back and check them again. As we get older and experience more, our Vitals will probably change. It’s good to use our Vitals to help us navigate through life; they are as good a personal map as I’ve ever come across.

- Jan Aitken is a Dunedin-based life coach.

For more go to www.fitforlifecoaches.co.nz.

Twitter:@jan—aitken

 

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