Week 3- Going 7-Layers Deep
AFS Education
Administrator, Moderator, Practitioner admin
Happy Monday everyone and Welcome to Week 3 of the No Cave November Challenge.
We hope that you all had an amazing Thanksgiving!
This week we are diving a bit deeper into the motivations and drive behind our health and fitness goals by exploring a potentially very impactful exercise called "7 Layers Deep".
Here's Devin and Nate to explain more. We sincerely hope you set some time aside for this exercise, and even tuck it away for other goals you have in life, fitness related or not.
Also, if you need a little bit more of an explanation to fill out the 7-Layer Deep exercise above, check out another video here where Devin walks you through his own personal exercise:
If you feel comfortable sharing your experiences in the comments below, please feel free to do so, along with updates on how you've done with your goals.
Have an awesome week everyone.
Sincerely,
Your AFS FitFam
UPDATE: 12-5-19
Hello everyone! We hope you all are having a great week and are staying on top of the goals you set. It's time again for our midweek video, so check it out below. We hope you have or will engage with the exercise this week.
Sincerely,
Your AFS FitFam
@Alyssa Romig @Heidi Morris @Nate Langley @Heather Quinlan @Beth Manoogian @Amy Rivard @Lisa Damphousse @Kim Goodfellow @Aimee Tinkham @Corinne Albrecht @Rosalyn Zielke @Michael Gable @Mike Stack @Jenny Gordon @Nicole Porter @Lisa Baumgarten @Jessica Rice @Gayle Grady @Bailey Paull-Baird @Lauren Baker (RH) @Terry Lobb @Kemper Sosa @Anne Grady @Brook Adams @Zach Ottman @Emma Sheffert @Chris Early @Chris Eskin @Danny Gossman @Rose Stachowski @Darcy Blakemore @Angela Johnson
Comments
Devin: Alright, welcome back everyone, hopefully you did awesome through your Thanksgiving, I know we probably could’ve done better but I was happy with what we achieved.
Nate: Yeah, we’re still here!
Devin: We’re still here, but we have five more weeks to go, so here we go! So far we’ve identified that we want to feel less guilty around the holidays so we’re gonna commit to some healthy behaviors. We are doing at least three things that walk us away from being healthy during the holidays. And we’ve come up with three solutions to each of those things, hopefully you’ve chosen at least one of those things to work on, okay? But! We were trying to get you through Thanksgiving, because it takes a lot of willpower. Now, to get through the next five weeks, if you try to just hang on with willpower, it gets real tough.
Nate: It’s dwindling.
Devin: We’re digging deeper this week and we kind of alluded to that last week in the video, okay? So, so you’ve done thousands, I mean maybe tens of thousands of fitness consults at this point.
Nate: *nods* A lot of people.
Devin: When you sit there and ask people, “What are you looking to achieve?”, What are the most common things you tend to hear about people’s health and fitness goals?
Nate: Whatever required the least amount of thought--and I’m not saying that to be offensive in any way, it’s just that I think what happens is we’re so emotionally tied to the things we really, really want that we know that even letting them out is gonna cause an emotional reaction that we might not be ready to have in that moment. So then we just say whatever we hear the most, I think that’s really the reflex people have, so then: “weight loss” or uh, “doctor said I have to,” or whatever, you know what I mean? I don’t, when I’m sitting there having those conversations, I bill myself as a good listener but I’m really not listening to that answer; I listen to the way that they give it to me, but I’m not putting a whole lot of stock in what I hear when I ask that question initially.
Devin: Mmhm.
Nate: I don’t know if that’s helpful for our exercise or not but that’s--
Devin: It is! Because, I mean, what we hear all the time as fitness practitioners is: “I wanna lose twenty pounds” and that’s great, and like, if you wanna lose twenty pounds I certainly think you should try to lose twenty pounds, but...that goal, when you have a cookie around the holidays, sitting in front of you, and you’re at zero pounds lost and your goal is twenty, that cookie looks really good because, like, “how much is that really gonna affect it?” Those things stack up, especially at this time of year because there’s so much stuff around. That’s why we’re gonna dig deeper this week because it’s not the twenty pounds that you really want to lose, there’s something else underneath that that you’re trying to get to. And that’s what we want to address here, with an exercise that--it’s not even my exercise, I came across this at a business conference. It’s called “Seven Layers Deep,” okay? So what we do is we say, okay, let’s say your goal is to lose twenty pounds, Nate your goal is to lose twenty pounds. I’m gonna say, “Why is it important for you to lose twenty pounds?”
Nate: Because I will fit better in my clothing.
Devin: So layer one--
Nate: It’s just a lot of “why”’s, yeah--
Devin: --is to feel better in your clothing. Okay, yeah!
Nate and Devin together: Why is it important to you, yeah--
Devin: --to feel better in your clothing? The reason that this is so important is because, again, when you’re looking at the goal of “lose twenty pounds,” and there’s a cookie right in front of you now, if you’re looking at the cookie in the context of the twenty pounds, it’s really hard. But if your goal is to feel better in your clothes...because when you feel better in your clothes you feel more confident. When you feel more confident, you’re a happier person. When you’re a happier person, you live in your joy. When you live in your joy, you treat everyone better--it like, it stacks up so like, saying no to that cookie is so much deeper than losing twenty pounds. Like, you’re saying no to that cookie because you want to be the best person you can be. And like, if that’s your motivation, behind it--
Nate: Yep.
Devin: --like, think about how strong you are as an individual, think about the hardest things you’ve ever had to get over in your life.
Nate: Yeah.
Devin: It’s incredible how resilient people are and they lose a battle to a cookie.
Nate: We all do, too!
Devin: We all do. Like, me! I’ve lost probably 3 battles today I don’t even know about!
Nate: Oh yeah, yeah, we--and that, that’s why it’s so hard to discuss with people fitness when it’s not a fitness thing at all or a weight loss thing at all. It’s actually personal development because it has everything to do with our choices and the way we interact with our environment. So like...it isn’t--what, what the “Seven Layers Deep” thing will do is show you: “Oh, this isn’t about that weight loss, it’s about challenging myself to further myself along in my development as a being.”
Devin: Yes.
Nate: And that’s a really fun challenge to partake in if you get some positive reinforcement along the way, which obviously we’re here to help provide. But, uh, until you have that little switch of, “Okay, I guess the weight wasn’t as important as it was to like, show myself I could.”
Devin: Mmhmm.
Nate: That’s hopefully what we’ll get to with uh...let us know how far you dip with the nacho, we dunno--
Devin: *laughs*
Nate: Seven layers, six…
Devin: Six layers, there’s an eight layer dip out there now, be wary of that one. But, seriously, okay? To close this video--
Nate: Just ask why. A bunch!
Devin: There is a link to a downloadable PDF that will walk you through this if you want to go through this exercise. I really highly recommend it because it will reveal some things that that choice is way more important than a few pounds lost. If you actually try to cultivate a life where you’re living in your joy, the twenty pounds of weight loss will happen, I guarantee you that. If you’re living your best life, that will just happen as a side effect of living in your healthiest body. So that’s why we’re getting deep this week, alright?
Happy Wednesday everyone. I hope you are all having a great week!
I hope that many of you have had the chance to do the 7 layers deep exercise explained in the videos this week. This is admittedly a very deep dive, and can be a quite personal and uncomfortable thing to do.
Certainly it is okay not to want to share your exercise and you don't have to! That said, I do hope everyone takes the time to at least start this exercise (the first 3-4 layers tend to be pretty easy, and even getting through just half of the exercise can be insightful).
I did want to share my experience with this exercise below just in case it can inspire others to take on the challenge of doing it themselves.
My goal: Maintain my exercise routine throughout the holiday.
Layer 1: Why is it important that I maintain my exercise routine throughout the holiday?
Because habits establish slowly but die easily. I don't want to risk losing the momentum around my exercise habit.
Layer 2: Why is it important to you to maintain your momentum and maintain this habit?
I believe it is important to establish the habit of sticking to your commitments in life in general, especially the ones we make with ourselves that are easiest to break
Layer 3: Why is it important that you establish the habit of sticking to your commitments, especially those your make to yourself?
It is important to me to be a dependable person that others can rely on.. that I can rely on myself...
Layer 4: Why is it important to you to be a dependable person for others and for yourself?
I believe that being dependable will make me a better husband, employee/coworker, family member etc. Having the discipline to stay accountable to myself especially.
Layer 5: Why is it important to you to be a good husband, employee/coworker, family member etc.?
Because I want to have a positive impact on those around me.
Layer 6: Why is it important to make a difference in the lives of those around you?
It feels good to help others, and to be recognized and seen.
Layer 7: Why is it important to you to be recognized and seen.
Because I want to ensure I can look back on my life and extract purpose and meaning from my accomplishments, relationships etc. I suppose I have a fear of looking back on my life and feeling like I haven't accomplished something truly meaningful and impactful, and the best way that I can think of at this time to measure that is through the impact I've made on others.
...
So, reflecting back, my original outcome goal was to maintain my exercise routine... However after deeper exploration, the true, deeper motivations behind this wind up being completely unrelated to my physical health or fitness, and have a lot more to do with making a mark on the world and others. I imagine most of our motivations behind our goals would end up going down a similarly deeper and more meaningful paths.. which is precisely why we take the time to do this exercise. In total this took me probably 30 minutes to do, so not a small chunk of time.. That said, I do think it was time well spent.
I hope you all have a great week, and learn a little bit more about yourself this week as I did.
In health,
Agent of Change / Fitness Innovation & Education Coordinator
Ok, I will try it.
My goal: Eliminate sweets during the holidays with the exception of the occasionally planned pumpkin pie and Christmas cookies.
Layer 1: Because I want to eat healthier.
Layer 2: Because I want to be healthy.
Layer 3: Because I want to be my best self and live longer.
Layer 4: Because I want to spend as much time as I can with my family and pets, and travel the world.
Layer 5: Because I love them and I love seeing new places and people.
Layer 6: Because to give love is one of the greatest things you can do, and to learn about other people and places gives you a greater understanding of and empathy for others.
Layer 7: l think that's the end!
That didn't go where I expected it to, but I'm happy with it. When you look at your goal this way, it really helps to see how small actions like eating that donut effect the bigger picture. With the donut in your hand, you're thinking it's JUST a donut, but really it's a lot more than that!
Thanks for sharing this @Devin Tarrant and @Nate Langley!
I really want to say how incredible having this Ncnc has been for me. Having a goal, or a guideline for me to follow and remind me of a purposeful way of thinking about my health has made a huge difference over the past month.
I used to overindulge as a reward for working out and for having a stressful life. But I’m thinking so much differently now about my relationship with food and my emotions, and I owe it to this forum and challenge.
Just taking some time to think of why I’m doing what I’m doing has been a blessing to me. Thank you for encouraging us to do this!
@Tricia Nault Awesome! Thanks for sharing your exercise! You're right that it tends to make the small "process" goals have a lot more meaning when framed this way.
@Heidi Morris wow, that is so encouraging to hear how helpful the forum and challenge have been for you.. Experiences like yours were the highest aspiration we had with the challenge and forum, so it definitely brightens my week to hear this. Keep on keeping on with it! =)
Agent of Change / Fitness Innovation & Education Coordinator
I did the 7 Layers Deep. I found it to be really eye opening. I took a lot of time doing it, going real deep. It can be emotional, but if I want to make changes I need to be honest with myself. Because my 7 Layers became very personal I would rather not post them. I want you to know that it is helping me to make the changes that I need now that I have a clear insight.
@Rose Stachowski I'm happy to hear you did the exercise and found it so useful. Absolutely no pressure to share whatsoever that's perfectly fine. Kudos to you for taking the time to go deep with this =).
Agent of Change / Fitness Innovation & Education Coordinator
7 layers! Been a busy week getting back on track after the holidays, but this sounds like a really important exercise to dig into.
My goal during the NoCaveNovember is not to indulge in all the sweets and treats EVERYWHERE during this time of the year.
Layer 1- because I want to stay on track with weight loss
Layer 2- because I want to be a healthier version of me.
Layer 3- because it will help me live a longer life ( in theory)
Layer 4- to enjoy watching my daughter grow up
Layer 5- Stops me in my tracks and those sweets and treats no longer hold any good value too me..
Fantastic post, and smiled at "(in theory)." Cheers doing all that we can :-)
Seeing a lot of really powerful work being done in here. Just want to let you all know I’m proud of you for that. Not easy. Painful. Necessary. ❤️
I tried this exercise within the hour and got stuck on 3 into 4.
Yeah it starts to get really challenging around point 3-5 I think. At the end of the day, I think even getting 3-4 layers deep can be impactful, although trying to see if you can work your way to 7 is a great exercise in reflection as well. Glad you did this, Angela!
Agent of Change / Fitness Innovation & Education Coordinator
I use the "Five Why's" exercise at work ALL the time to think through problems, but had never thought to apply it to my own wellness! Look forward to trying it!