The Seamus Fox Podcast.
This podcast has been created to share real life experiences from inspiring people in all walks of life, those who have engineered change in their own lives through a shift in thinking and beliefs. I want to share my own journey and have others share theirs so that it can help inspire others to crete the internal changes thats needed to create long lasting life changes.
The Seamus Fox Podcast.
Understanding the Core of Human Motivation
Unlock the secrets to achieving personal and professional success by understanding what truly drives human behavior. Ever wondered why some people with similar goals excel while others falter? This episode dives deep into the field of axiology—the study of meaning, purpose, and values—and its pivotal role in shaping our actions and outcomes. Drawing from two decades of exploring human behavior and insights from the renowned Dr. John Demartini, we unravel the importance of identifying genuine values over societal ideals. Get ready to challenge common misconceptions about company values and discover why expecting uniform behaviors like kindness and loyalty isn't just unrealistic but counterproductive.
Join us as we navigate the intricacies of aligning goals with true values, a cornerstone in both personal growth and professional environments. Whether you're a coach, teacher, business leader, or simply someone eager to understand why people do what they do, this episode offers invaluable insights. Learn how acknowledging the variability in human behavior can create more authentic and effective surroundings. By grasping the core values driving actions, habits, and behaviors, you'll be better equipped to shape your own outcomes and guide others towards their goals. Don't miss this compelling exploration into the essence of human values and their impact on success.
Seamus, I've never heard values explained in the way that you explain them, and it just makes so much sense. This was a conversation that I had with someone after a webinar that I did for a friend and his group last month, and it was all on human values and understanding human values and understanding why we do the things that we do. Understanding why we do the things that we do it's something that I've been fascinated by for the last well, I suppose the last 20 years as a coach. I've really wanted to know why do we do the things that we do and why do we get the results that we get and why do we not do the things that we often say we're going to do? And that really kind of got me down the rabbit hole of really beginning to understand and learn and study more and more about human behavior. And one of the biggest things that I've learned and I suppose it's one of the most important tools because I believe that it's the cornerstone of human behavior was understanding values and understanding human values and understanding from a real high level, which is why I really began to understand and study more around this topic with my mentor, dr John Demartini, because I really wanted to know why do I do what I do? Why does this person do they do? And I'd seen it time and time again in the fitness space as a personal trainer, as a gym owner, as a coach in that space where one person would get a result and the next person wouldn't. One person would keep a result and the next person wouldn't. You would have two people who were on the same path, wanted the same goals, had the same kind of makeup, let's say, and one would get to where they wanted to be and another person wouldn't. And I always wondered what was going on there, like what is really, like what really makes the difference. And that really began to set me on the path of really beginning to understand human behavior at a deeper level. And values is so, so important in understanding that.
Speaker 1:Now I said values and I said a high level, because values, a lot of the times, especially in society, in terms of what we think they are, are not values. Real values are not words, they are behaviors. Real values are driven by what we're trying to fill most, and those values, of what we're trying to fill most, are driven by what we thought was missing most. So voids drive values, not words. Voids drive habits and behaviors, not words. So if we really want to move towards a new future, if we really want to create a vision, then we have to know what's driving the values and we have to get really aligned with our values so that we can begin to match our goals, the habits and the actions, the steps that we need to take in order to move towards that vision.
Speaker 1:Because if you think that your values are something completely different than what they actually are and you set goals that are fantasies and not actually really linked to something that is intrinsically within you to fulfill, then you're going to beat yourself up constantly when you don't move towards it and the reason that you're not moving towards it, because it's not a real value, it's not actually meaningful enough for you, and you're finding more meaning in doing other things because they are filling other voids. Now, without going into this whole process, which is deep and this is something that I take every single client that I work with through on a one-to-one basis, all the business owners and business leaders that I work with all go through this process with me first, because I need to understand what their real, real values are so that we can begin to map out the future, map out the goals, map out the actions, shift and change the habits that need to happen in order to create the vision that they want to create. So, in my experience, so many businesses and companies get the application of values wrong and this can cause a lot of pain in teams, it can cause a lot of conflict in partnerships and it can cause a lot of stress in relationships. So If you think about company values, a lot of the times what comes up are words like kindness, happiness, loyalty, respect. But these are not human values, these are social idealisms.
Speaker 1:When you hear yourself say I need to, I should, I must, I have to, that's a language of injected values, and what I mean by that is you've probably consciously, unconsciously, taken in somebody else's values and you've tried to do the things that other people are telling you to do Could be a parent, could be some type of authority, could be somebody in work, whatever it might be. We get this a lot of times Growing up. We need them in order for us to understand what we can do, what we can't do, and they, I suppose, fit in in society, but the expectation to always be kind, always be happy, always be loyal, always be respectful, and understanding human behavior is just simply a fantasy. What I'm going to ask you is look back at your life, look back at the last week, look back at the last month, look back at the last year and honestly reflect on how you show up. Are you always kind? Are you always happy? Are you always loyal? Do you always be respectful? Probably not, if you're being honest with yourself, if a company has these values in the walls and an expectation for you to be this way Inside the company.
Speaker 1:But understanding human behaviour Tells us that Sometimes you're kind and sometimes you're not. Sometimes you're happy and sometimes you're sad. Sometimes you're loyal, sometimes you're disloyal. Sometimes you act with respect, sometimes you're disrespectful and understanding that. We're all of that. Well, if we understand that from a basic level and we think that we need to show up and be a one-sided person, well, when we don't show up within the business in that way, so what now? We're going against the company values? Are we going against the company culture? Of course not. You're just being a human being.
Speaker 1:Any human being that lives authentically Will know that they're not always that way. They're not always kind, they're not always happy, they don't always act with respect, etc. Because they're not values, they're traits, they're actions, they're inactions. And in human behavior and understanding universal laws there's a unity of opposites. And the unity of opposite means that for every trait that you have positive, you also have its opposite and the negative trait. So sometimes I'm happy, sometimes I'm sad, sometimes I'm nice, sometimes I'm mean, sometimes I'm respectful, sometimes I'm disrespectful. If you treat me and support me in my values, I'll probably be more happier, I'll be nicer. But if you challenge me in my values, then you're going to get the opposite side and that's just who we are. And if we understand that and understand that that's who we are, when we begin to understand human values, then we can be ourselves and we can be more authentic.
Speaker 1:So I've seen this play out loads of times from people that have coached business owners that showed up thinking that they needed to be a one-sided person in their business, always happy, always positive, never sad. Where, uh, where they just couldn't live up to that all day, every day. And what happens is is that might get expressed in one way in the business, but what's being suppressed gets expressed somewhere else and a lot of the times that was coming out to the people they loved. So whatever we're suppressing in one area, we'll express in another area. So if those words are human values, then why do we always use them in business? Why does businesses constantly use them? Because they look good and we think that that's what they need to be, and most other businesses.
Speaker 1:If they're being honest, business owners will look at other companies and other businesses and think, well, that's our values, we'll take that as well and we'll put that in the wall. And we'll put this in the wall and that in the wall, but it's meaningless. And I'm not saying that it's totally meaningless, that would be wrong. But in terms of why people are showing up in your business, it has little value. People are showing up in your business. They fulfill their voids. People are showing up in your business because of their own intrinsic values and intrinsic needs, and if your company and your business can help them fulfill their intrinsic values and intrinsic needs, they'll be loyal and they'll stay around longer. Intrinsic needs they'll be loyal and they'll stay around longer. But if it's not and somebody else has given them a better deal, then you'll look at them and think that they're disloyal. But they're not being disloyal, they're just going to have their intrinsic needs and values met in a better way elsewhere. It's not right, it's not wrong, it's just human behavior.
Speaker 1:So how can you begin to understand the people that work for you better, understand the value application in a much deeper way, understand why people show up within your company to do what they do? And here's the thing once you really begin to get this and you really begin to understand this and you really begin to understand this at a deeper level, you can then really begin to link all of your employees and all the people who show up on your team, link their values to your mission, to your goals, to your outcomes that you want to achieve. And once they're able to link their intrinsic drivers and values on a personal level to the goals that you're looking to achieve, then you'll have more communication, you have more momentum. People show up with more meaning because they feel that they're getting their values met in a completely different way, in a a higher way. They're feeling more fulfilled, maybe more inspired, and they're getting understood better.
Speaker 1:So it's not to have like I'm having a go at business values and company's values. I'm not at all, but for me, I want to really understand why people do what they do, and the study of axiology, which is the study of meaning and purpose and the real understanding of human behavior, was something that was really driving me to understand my actions and my habits. And if I'm coaching and teaching people and I'm showing up in businesses and doing talks for companies and their teams, I need to understand at a deeper level why people are driven to do what they do. And one of the best things that I've learned and one of the most important cornerstones for me in my personal journey and in working with other people is understanding human values and how they really shape all of our actions, all of our habits, all of our behaviors and ultimately, I suppose, all of our outcomes. Okay, guys, till the next one, bye.