When Your Body Speaks First: How Physiology, Thoughts, and Avoidance Pull You Away from Your Values
We often frame avoidance as discipline issue; something to fix with better habits, stronger motivation or more willpower. But avoidance isn’t a failure of character. It’s a natural outcome of how your body and mind are wired to protect you.
The problem? That protection system doesn’t always care about your values. It cares about your comfort.
And those two don’t always align.
The body moves first.
Picture yourself about to:
set a boundary
start something meaningful but uncertain
speak honestly in a difficult moment
Before you’ve fully formed a thought, your body is reacting:
tight chest
increased heard rate
restlessness or a pull to disengage
This is your nervous system flagging risk and emotional exposure:
rejection
failure
judgement
loss of control
Your brain’s job is simple - reduce discomfort and stay safe. Not to help you live in alignment with your values.
Thoughts step in to justify the exit.
Once your body is activated, your thoughts quickly follow:
“this isn’t the right time.”
“I don’t want to make things worse.”
“I’ll deal with this later.”
“It’s not that important anyway.”
These thoughts feel rational and responsible. But they are often shaped by one goal - get out of discomfort as quickly as possible.
Your mind becomes incredibly persuasive when it’s working on behalf of avoidance.
The escape loop (and why it works so well).
Here’s the pattern most people don’t notice occurring in real time:
Trigger - something meaningful but uncomfortable.
Physiological activation - anxiety, tension, urge to escape
Thoughts - stories that justify delay or withdrawal
Avoidance behaviour - procrastination, silence, distraction
Relief - immediate drop in discomfort
That last step is reinforcing. The relief reaches your brain that avoidance was the right move. So next time? The urge to avoid shows up faster, stronger, and more convincingly.
When values get lost.
Here’s the part that matters most. Avoidance doesn’t just remove discomfort, it quietly pulls you out of alignment with your values.
Over time, this can look like:
valuing honesty, but avoiding hard conversations
valuing growth, but staying in what’s familiar
valuing connection, but withdrawing when things feel vulnerable
valuing leadership, but staying silent to avoid conflict
valuing health, but avoiding the discomfort of behaviour change
This doesn’t occur because you don’t care, but because your nervous system is louder than your intentions in that moment.
The cost of living by comfort instead of values.
Avoidance works in the short term, by giving you relief, space, and temporary control. But over time, the costs compound:
a growing gap between who you want to be and how you’re showing up
increased self-doubt (“why didn’t I just do it?!”)
more sensitivity to discomfort (as it’s rarely faced)
a shrinking life with fewer risks and meaningful actions
You don’t drift away from your values all at once. It happens in small, repeated moments of choosing comfort over alignment.
From relief-seeking to values-led action.
The goal isn’t to eliminate avoidance entirely, but to notice it sooner and choose differently when it matters.
Recognize the moment of choice. That feeling in your body, that urge to delay, scroll, cancel or stay quiet. This is not just discomfort, but a decision point. Do you move away from this feeling…or toward what matters?
Make space for the feeling. Trying to get rid discomfort often ends up fueling avoidance. Instead try, noticing the sensation, naming it (anxiety, tension), and letting it be present without immediately acting on it. The goal is not to try to feel better, but to create room to choose better.
Hold your thoughts lightly. Your thoughts will attempt to offer an exit strategy. You don’t need to argue with them, simply notice them. “I’m having the thought that this will go badly.” This small shift (cognitive defusion), creates distance between you and the story your thoughts are telling you.
Bring values into the moment. Values aren’t abstract ideas; they’re directions for action. Ask yourself, “if I weren’t trying to get rid of this feeling, what would matter right now?”, “What would the version of me who lives my values do here?”. Then take a step, however small, in that direction.
Redefine success as acting in alignment with your values even when discomfort is present.
A more honest way to live.
Living your values doesn’t mean you stop feeling anxious, uncertain, or resistant. It means those experiences stop being the decision-makers. Because if you wait to feel ready to act, you’ll end up delaying the conversation, holding back your voice, or staying where it’s safe. However, if you’re willing to feel discomfort, you speak up, you act, you move toward the life you actually want.
Final thought.
Avoidance isn’t the enemy, its a signal that you’re near something meaningful, your body is trying to protect you, and you’re standing at a fork between comfort and values. One path reduces discomfort quickly. The other builds a life that feels like yours. And while you won’t always choose perfectly, each time you do choose your values through discomfort you strengthen a different pattern of behaviour. Once where your life is shaped less by what you feel… and more by what truly matters to you.
Happiness Isn’t Where You’re Going, It’s Where You Are
We’re often taught to treat happiness like a reward. Something you earn after you hit a goal, fix a problem, or become a better version of yourself. It lives just slightly ahead of you - “I’ll feel better when…”. But there’s a slight problem with that model.
Two versions of happiness.
Contingent happiness or “I’ll be happy when…” This version depends on outcomes, behaviours, and external circumstances. It is future-focused, conditional and often motivating. But rarely feels satisfying for long.
Present moment happiness or mindfulness-based. This version is about being aware of what’s happening right now, making space for both pleasant and unpleasant experiences, and not postponing your life until conditions are ‘perfect’. It’s accessible immediately, but often overlooked because it feels too simple.
Why we get stuck chasing happiness.
Your brain is built to solve problems, not sit in contentment. As a result, you constantly scan for what’s missing, what needs fixing, or what could be wrong. This creates a loop:
notice discomfort
set a goal to fix it
believe happiness comes after the fix
delay feeling okay until you meet the goal
What happens when you achieve the goal? The mind quickly moves onto the next one, “okay, but now what about this?”. Happiness ends up getting pushed into the future.
The hidden cost of conditional happiness.
There’s nothing wrong with goals, growth, or wanting things to improve, however if your ability to feel okay is dependent on them there may be an issue. Over time, you might experience chronic dissatisfaction, difficulty being present, constant sense of urgency or pressure, or miss meaningful moments because you’re mentally elsewhere.
What mindfulness actually offers.
Mindfulness isn’t about forcing yourself to be happy. It’s about not needing the moment to be different in order to show up in it. This could include enjoying what good while it’s here, allowing discomfort without immediately trying to escape it, or noticing thoughts like “this isn’t enough” without buying into them. Mindfulness shifts the question from “how do I get to happiness?” to “what’s already here, if I pay attention?”
This isn’t about settling.
You might be thinking “if I stop chasing happiness, won’t I lose motivation?” You can still set goals, work toward change, and improve your life, but you’re not longer saying “my life starts when I get there.”
Integration.
This is about changing your relationship to your goals and ambition. Instead of choosing happiness after action, you can notice small moments, experience connection to the world and feel grounded in the present, while you work toward valued goals with feelings of discomfort and uncertainty.
A simple shift to practive.
Next time you catch yourself thinking “I’ll feel better when…” pause and ask yourself “what can I appreciate here right now?”, “What am I missing right now, because I’m focused on what’s next?”
Perhaps you take a moment of calm, have a conversation with a loved one, look at the progress made so far, or even just slowing down your breath. Happiness doesn’t always have to arrive loudly, sometimes it’s just the acceptance of what already is.
Final thought.
Chasing happiness in the future is fine, but if it’s the only place you allow yourself to feel it, you’ll spend most of you time waiting. The conditions for happiness don’t always show up when your goals are met, they show up when you’re present enough to notice.
Tracking Medication Side Effects, Behaviour Change, and Values: A Holistic Approach
Disclaimer: This post is for general information only and is not medical advice. Please consult a qualified healthcare provider for any decisions about medication, side effects, or treatment plans.
When individuals work toward weight-related goals, they often focus on nutrition, movement and routines. And for many, medication also plays a major role; especially those that affect appetite, energy or metabolism.
Understanding how weight loss medications and healthy behaviours interact is important, not only for weight loss, but for medication fading as appropriate.
A behaviour analytic approach to medication management may be to track:
medication side effects
behaviour changes,
personal values and committed actions.
Together, these help create a fuller picture of progress, readiness to change, and behaviour patterns that can help guide medication decisions.
Tracking can help distinguish medication effects from behavioural patterns.
Some medications cause changes in hunger, energy, sleep or fluid retention. Without tracking, one might misattribute these changes to poor motivation or lack of willpower. But when you track both side effects and behaviours, you can see whether
changes are medication related,
behaviour changes are working, even if hidden by side effects, or if
medication fading is realistic right now.
An example.
An individual taking antipsychotics may experience a 4lb. weight increase during dose adjustments, however their behaviour tracking shows
consistent healthy meals
daily physical movement, and
reduced snacking.
Without tracking, they might think they’re not trying hard enough. With tracking, it becomes clear the weight change is pharmacological and not behavioural. This information can keep you from abandoning healthy behaviour patterns, despite side effects that might indicate your healthy habits aren’t working (i.e. weight gain).
Consider that weight loss alone is rarely a motivating value. But when behaviour change goals are connected to personal values, individuals can build the resilience and persistence to carry them through medication adjustments, and continue with healthy habits. Some common values linked to healthy behaviour goals might include:
remaining active with your children
improving general long-term health
maintaining independence
feeling confident in day-to-day life, or
increased emotional stability.
Medication fading often requires self-driven, sustainable behaviours or habits, along with strong values that provide the “why” behind your efforts.
An example.
Perhaps a family member preparing to fade off a weight-loss medication, identifies one of their values as “being energized and present with their kids”. This value helps to drive committed actions such as planning balanced meals, taking evening walks after dinner and prioritizing sleep. These behaviours become a stable foundation of sustainable healthy habits while medication is reduced.
Committed Actions Show Readiness for Medication Fading
Committed actions are the specific, observable behaviours that support your values. These actions help determine whether you have the consistency and structure needed to maintain progress as medication doses decrease.
Tracking committed actions helps answer questions related to your value, such as:
Are you eating regular meals?
Are you engaging in physical movement you enjoy?
Are you incorporating mindful coping skills instead of relying on medication only to suppress appetite?
Are behaviour patterns stable or fluctuating?
An example.
Before tapering a medication to suppress appetite, one practices:
scheduling meal prep
engaging in mindful eating skills, and
a morning routine that incorporates movement and boosts energy
By tracking these actions for several weeks, not only does one build confidence in one’s ability to maintain healthy habits, but this information provides health care providers insightful and valuable data to support decision making.
Tracking Values + Behaviour + Medication Effects Creates a More Accurate Narrative
Instead of a story like: “That medication made me gain weight, I stopped taking it.”
Try tracking:
medication start and stop dates
dates of dose changes
intensity and frequency of side effects
Behaviours such as meal times, physical activity, sleep, and/or use of coping skills
Values and Committed Actions (why is this important and how do I demonstrate it)
and Outcome Data, such as weight, energy or stress levels, hunger cues (to help determine if what you’re doing is working)
Together, these help paint a fuller picture of what’s going on.
Final Thoughts.
Medication is just one part of some weight-loss or health change journeys. And by integrating values, committed actions, and tracking of medication side effects and consistency of behaviours; individuals and health care providers can make informed, compassionate, and sustainable decisions.
Values keep people anchored.
Committed actions demonstrate readiness.
Tracking connects everything to create a coherent story.
Are These Your Values, or Ones You Inherited?
Cultural values are the shared rules, priorities, and reinforcers of the groups we belong to - family, your profession, social media ecosystems, communities and friend circles.
Cultural values are powerful because they are reinforced consistently. Think about what gets rewarded:
promotions and productivity
engagements, weddings, and babies
hustle culture
“having it together”
Societal values operate through more subtle reinforcement:
praise
likes and comments
belonging; avoidance of judgement
While none of these are inherently wrong, ask yourself this question. “Are they aligned with what genuinely matters to you?”
Personal values are those chosen, not assigned.
Personal values are directional, providing qualities to actions that help define the life you want to express. They sound like:
curiosity
playful
integrity
compassion
autonomy
adventure
presence
community
Personal values are not outcomes. Being married isn’t a value, being thin isn’t a value and making six figures is not a value.
Values are how you want to show up, not what you want to collect. Think:
love
health
growth
security
might be values.
Conflict between personal and cultural values can often show up as:
success without satisfaction (you hit the milestones, but feel flat, because the milestone is culturally reinforced, not internally chosen).
chronic guilt (you want less hustle, a nontraditional path, to opt out, to prioritize mental health, but internalized “shoulds” create guilt).
decision paralysis (external reinforcement competes with internal alignment, resulting in avoidance).
Society reinforces visibility, productivity, and conformity. Your personal values may reinforce rest, autonomy and unconventional living. When reinforcement systems compete, behaviours gets pulled in both directions.
Instead of asking, “What should I want?” Try asking yourself:
“When do I feel most like myself?”
“What qualities do I admire in others, beyond aesthetics or achievement?”
“If no one could see my life, what would I still choose?”
“What would I want my future self to thank me for?”
Notice a shift. Values aren’t about image, but direction.
Living aligned with your personal values may mean:
earning less - but feeling freer
saying no - and disappointing someone
redefining success
leaving environments
disappointing your past self
You don’t have to reject cultural values, just choose consciously. You can want partnership and autonomy, or want career growth and a nervous system that is regulated. You can want financial stability and creative expression. But when tension arises, the questions becomes - “which direction do I want my life to move toward?” Not what will get an applause, or avoids criticism, but what feels aligned with who you are.
The next time you feel overwhelmed, ask “am I exhausted from living my values or from performing someone else’s?” The answer will tell you a lot.
Reinforcement at Work: Why Good Intentions Don’t Always Change Behaviour
Most workplace behaviour change efforts tend to fail for one simple reason. We talk about expectations, but rarely do we change the contingencies at play.
You can provide the training, attempt to inspire, and even threaten, but behaviour only changes when the environment makes a different behaviour easier, more valuable or more reinforcing than the old one.
That’s where contingent reinforcement comes in.
What Actually is Reinforcement (and what it isn’t)
In behavioural terms, reinforcement is anything that increases the likelihood of a behaviour happening again.
Reinforcement is not defined by your intention, but by its effect. A bonus that doesn’t change performance? Not a reinforcer. Public praise leads to avoidance? Not a reinforcer.
Flexibility, autonomy, social recognition, reduced effort, and feelings of competency are often powerful reinforcers. In the workplace, these can look like:
Social reinforcers (recognition, positive feedback, inclusion)
Tangible reinforcers (pay, perks, exclusive resources)
Task-Based reinforcers (decreased effort, clearer systems, autonomy)
Intrinsic reinforcers (mastery, alignment with values, meaning)
Preferred vs. Reinforcing: A Critical Distinction
This is where many leaders get stuck. They think preferred equals reinforcing.
A preferred consequence is something people say they like, such as paper towels over air drying. A reinforcing consequence is something that actually increases behaviour.
For example, an employee says they prefer verbal praise, but behaviour only increases when deadlines are relaxed or workload is reduced. So while praise may be preferred, reduced task demands is the reinforcer.
In the workplace, leaders often overuse:
verbal recognition
one-size-fits-all incentives
end of year rewards
while underestimating:
immediate feedback
removal of friction
predictability and clarity
feeling effective, and not overwhelmed.
Competing Contingencies: Why Old Behaviour Keeps Winning
If someone knows what to do but doesn’t do it, assume competing contingencies are at play. A competing contingency is when an undesired behaviour is more immediately reinforcing, and the desired behaviour is effortful or results in delayed or inconsistent reinforcement.
Let’s look at some examples:
you desire an employee to give feedback promptly, but they may avoid discomfort by delaying doing so
you desire employees to follow a new process, but the older system is faster so employees may continue to engage with the older system
you desire an increase in employees documenting their work, however they see no immediate payoff to do so
you want increased participation from employees during meetings, however by remaining silent, employees avoid social risks
People resist change because the environment rewards the old behaviour better.
Changing Behaviour Means Changing Contingencies
If you want behaviour to shift, reinforcement must be:
immediate
reliable
meaning to the person
easier than the competing behaviour
This requires intentional planning.
How to Change Workplace Contingencies
Step 1.
Define the behaviour precisely and objectively. Avoid vague goals like “be proactive” or “communicate better”. Instead try:
“Send project updates by Friday 3pm”
“Provide feedback within 48 hours”
“Use the new intake form for all future requests”
If you can’t observe it, you can’t reinforce it.
Step 2.
Identify the current reinforcers. Ask:
What happens right after the current behaviour?
What discomfort is being avoided?
What effort is being reduced?
The answers to these questions will help explain why the current behaviour persists.
Step 3.
Identify the competing contingencies. Find out:
What does the undesired behaviour result in? What is the payoff for the individual?
What cost does the desired behaviour current have? How much effort does the new behaviour take?
Step 4.
Select reinforcers that employees respond to, not what leadership prefers. Consider:
Reduced workload later
Faster approvals
Autonomy
Tying behaviours to meaningful outcomes
Providing skill-building opportunities
Whenever possible, reinforcer early efforts and not just perfect outcomes.
Step 5.
Reduce the cost of the desired behaviour. Sometimes, reinforcement alone might not compete enough. Try:
Simplifying steps
Automating reminders
Removing unnecessary approvals
Clarifying expectations
Normalizing imperfect attempts
Remember, lower effort equals a higher probability of desired behaviour.
Step 6.
Deliver reinforcement immediately and consistently, reinforcement loses its power quickly. When possible:
Weekly beats quarterly
Specific beats generic
Predictable beats random
Step 7.
Fade artificial reinforcement and strengthen natural ones. Over time, shift toward reinforcing:
Mastery
Efficiency
Team trust
Value-aligned outcomes,
to increase sustainability of the desired behaviour.
Final Thought.
Behaviour is often a systems contingency problem, where reinforcement aligns with undesired behaviours. However, when reinforcement does align with the behaviour you want, and competing contingencies are weakened, behaviour change stops leading to power struggles and starts being the path of least resistance. That’s how behaviour actually changes.
Leadership Skills of the Future
Great leadership requires knowing what actions are required for the present context.
With Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACT) leaders can start to…
interrupt automatic stress responses or unhelpful coping strategies
pay attention to current context or environment is asking for
choose actions that are aligned with their leadership values and goals
Present moment awareness and cognitive defusion are two components of ACT that can help anyone experiencing experiential avoidance or have difficulty responding effectively during moments of crisis, build crisis resilience.
Crisis resilience is one’s ability to respond effectively during moments of crisis, even when experiencing discomfort. Like psychological flexibility, where one responds in line with their values even when it may be easier, and/or more reinforcing to not.
The goal is not to eliminate internal states of frustrations, self-doubt, or fear of failure, but to help ensure that these internal states don’t drive behaviour.
So, instead of reacting to unimportant information or historic self-imposed rules such as “I must always have the answer”, leaders gain the ability to respond more effectively to the situation in front of them.
Present moment awareness helps to keep us in the here and now, instead of living in our heads, thinking about the past or future. Remaining present helps to attune to the specific environments and contexts to better respond to expectations, instead of responding to thoughts of the past or future, and current physiological internal states that lead to avoidance.
Second, consider that uncomfortable thoughts and feelings are normal human experiences, and automatic thoughts often come up, such as “I can’t fix this”, “this is impossible”, which usually aren’t helpful. When a leader is fused to their thought “this problem is unsolvable”, they are more likely to stop trying and withdraw.
However a leader who practices defusion recognizes a thoughts as simply a thought, “I’m having the thought that this is unsolvable”. This helps to create space to act more in alignment with values and the current context, rather than acting from an emotional place. A leader who practices cognitive defusion will continue to engage in problem-solving because persistence aligns with their leadership values.
Lemon Exercises
Practice present moment awareness and cognitive defusion to build leadership flexibility.
Present Moment Awareness Exercise:
Imagine cutting open a bright yellow lemon. Then imagine biting into a piece of it. Notice the physical sensations, thoughts, and emotions that you are experiencing. For example, salivation, muscle clenching, thinking “so sour!”. Notice how thoughts (like thinking about a lemon) can create real physical reaction, but they are not commands you need to do anything with.
Cognitive Defusion Exercise:
Try repeating the word ‘lemon’ for 30 seconds. Notice how the meaning of the word fades, and it becomes just a series of sounds. Notice how the words and thoughts (repeating ‘lemon’) lose their emotional impact when we are able to step away from them.
The Bottom Line
By cultivating psychological flexibility, leaders become better equipped to guide their teams through uncertainty, maintain performance under stress and model values-driven behaviours. ACT doesn’t eliminate the stress, it teaches leaders how to lead effectively through it.
Leading Through Uncertainty: Using ACT to Build Resilient Teams
In today’s fast-paced workplaces, leaders are facing increasing levels of psychological distress and burnout. These internal states don’t just affect wellbeing, but directly impact employee performance, decision making and overall team outcomes.
Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACT) is an evidence-based process used within organizations to enhance resilience, leadership capacity and workplace performance.
How ACT Works
ACT reduces psychological distress and burnout, through some specific skills:
Mindfulness Practice
By learning to stay grounded in the present moment, regardless of internal states, or thoughts. This helps to reduce impulsive decision-making, while supporting more strategic thinking.
By learning to identify and act according to core values, leaders engage in increased consistency and build confidence to act even in high-pressure situations.
Together, these skills have been shown to reduce symptoms of stress, increase work performance, and reduce workplace errors.
Building a Growth Mindset Through Behavioural Skills Training
A growth mindset is a set of behaviours, including setting clear goals, meeting mastery criteria and using behavioural skills training to teach. Organizations that foster a growth mindset build resilience, persistence and continuous improvement within their teams.
A growth mindset or belief that one’s abilities and traits can always be developed is essential for personal and professional success.
Growth mindset interventions help individuals see challenges as opportunities to learn rather than threats to their competence.
To be effective, these interventions should identify objective behaviour goals with clear performance criteria (what success looks like and how it will be measured).
To ensure competency when teaching new skills, include:
an explanation or rationale for the skill, and description of the required behaviours
a model of the behaviour or skill demonstrated to mastery or expert level (i.e. frequency, accuracy, and fluency)
opportunities to practice the skill in a safe, supportive environment
corrective and positive feedback until mastery is observed across multiple opportunities
Gradually increase difficulty to build confidence and competence
Bottom Line
A growth mindset is a set of behaviours, including setting clear goals, meeting mastery criteria and using behavioural skills training to teach. Organizations that foster a growth mindset build resilience, persistence and continuous improvement within their teams.
From Habits to Behaviour Change: Using Nudges to Create Positive Tipping Points
Behaviour science shows us that small changes can lead to big shifts. Combing habit strategies with behavioural tipping can help
make desired behaviours easy and rewarding
connect actions to identity and values
use modelling and reinforcement to spread change
The results are sustainable habits, and stronger community that align with wellbeing and shared goals.
Your behaviour doesn’t happen in isolation. It’s shaped and designed by our environments, learning histories of reinforcement, and social norms.
You can however design your environment to create new norms and shape behaviour change.
Positive Tipping. Occurs when a small number of individuals engage in a new behaviour, which is observed by others. The larger group starts to model the behaviour and social contagion takes hold, increasing conformity through continued modelling and social reinforcement, until the new behaviour becomes the norm.
How to Trigger Positive Tipping Points:
Implement behavioural nudges, and simple prompts that help make the desired behaviour more accessible.
Frame participation or adoption of the desired behaviour as an invitation to collaborate, and not an obligation.
Make the desired behaviour the default option and easier than alternatives.
Model the desired behaviour as social proof that others are doing it too. People will ask, “Is anyone else doing this?” before they start themselves.
Pair the desired behaviour with positive consequences. For example, collecting rainwater saves potable water and lowers costs.
Motivation Matters
Behaviour change is difficult because it competes with already established habits and immediate rewards.
Long term benefits often feel distant, while our short term habits are reinforced in the moment.
To help overcome this:
Tie desired behaviours with your current values and who you want to be.
Highlight immediate benefits as well as the future long term gains.
Provide more immediate reinforcement or incentives for the new behaviours.
The Science Behind Habits
Habits form through cue -> behaviour -> reward
Cue: environmental trigger
Behaviour: automatic response
Reward: reinforcement that strengthens the habit
Over time, these habits or behaviours become automatic and difficult to change, however:
start small, breaking big goals into more manageable steps
pair desired behaviours with existing habits
modify environmental cues to disrupt old habits and help support new ones
Examples in Action:
Fitness wearables provide immediate feedback and reinforcement for healthy behaviours.
Pairing nutritious foods with preferred flavours helps to make healthy choices more rewarding.
Text/email reminders help encourage physical activity, helping to boost well being and productivity.
Bottom Line
Behaviour science shows us that small changes can lead to big shifts. Combing habit strategies with behavioural tipping can help
make desired behaviours easy and rewarding
connect actions to identity and values
use modelling and reinforcement to spread change
The results are sustainable habits, and stronger community that align with wellbeing and shared goals.
From Stress to Success: How ACT and Performance Feedback Drive Workplace Change
While stress is inevitable, it’s impact doesn’t have to be. Combine performance feedback with ACT to create a compelling formula for
reducing burnout and psychological stress,
increasing engagement and productivity, and
driving sustainable behaviour change
Organizations that invest in these strategies don’t just improve employee performance, they help build resilient, value-driven teams ready to thrive.
How can organizations supports their employees in managing stress in fast-paced work environments, while improving performance?
Research supports Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACT) and structured performance feedback as a powerful combination.
High stress increases errors, reduces efficiency, and contributes to burnout. All of which lead to reduced productivity.
As stress levels increase, employee technical performance suffers and increased supervision can often feel like heightened pressure to perform, leading employees to engage in avoidance behaviours and disengage from work culture.
Enter ACT.
ACT is not about getting rid of internal discomfort, which leads to avoidance, but about building psychological flexibility. The ability to take actions towards values even when stress, and unhelpful thoughts or feelings show up.
ACT encourages employees to move forward with meaningful goals instead of getting stuck in avoidance patterns.
Verbal and written performance feedback, along with reinforcement, and removal of barriers to performance, has been shown to reduce stress levels in employees, however…including ACT produced even greater and more consistent performance improvements, higher employee engagement and stronger technical skills. Additionally, employees found ACT strategies enjoyable and practical (Pingo et al., 2020).
Why it works.
ACT aims to address the root causes of stress; typically avoidance. By clarifying workplace and personal values, breaking tasks into smaller, more manageable steps, and reinforcing actions aligned with values, employees increase their ability to adapt and thrive, even under pressure.
Bottom line.
While stress is inevitable, it’s impact doesn’t have to be. Combine performance feedback with ACT to create a compelling formula for
reducing burnout and psychological stress,
increasing engagement and productivity, and
driving sustainable behaviour change
Organizations that invest in these strategies don’t just improve employee performance, they help build resilient, value-driven teams ready to thrive.
How ACT Builds Resilience, Emotional Regulation, and Value-Aligned Living
By accepting the discomfort, defusing from unhelpful thoughts, practicing mindfulness and taking committed action toward what matters most, we move towards better mental health, stronger resilience and a life aligned with your values.
We all experience uncomfortable thoughts and feelings, which we often try to control or suppress, through a coping strategy called Experiential Avoidance (EA).
EA is linked to a variety of psychological and behavioural difficulties, despite offering short term relief, leading to potentially harmful long term consequences.
Typically individuals will engage in EA to escape or control negative internal states or experiences (thoughts, emotions, memories), leading to the development of common coping patterns such as substance use, social withdrawal, and risky behaviours. Frequent engagement in EA is associated with PTSD, increased hospital visits, depression, increased school dropouts and an overall decrease in quality of life.
Combined with environmental stressors such as grief, pain, racism or violence, EA can exacerbate psychological or behavioural difficulties.
Psychological Flexibility
Psychological flexibility is the capacity to engage with difficult internal experiences while still acting in alignment with your values.
Lack of psychological flexibility means we become fused with our thoughts, such as “This is my fault”, “I’m not good enough,” and we regularly engage in EA coping strategies that help us avoid or escape these unpleasant thoughts and associated feelings.
These patterns of - trigger -> unpleasant thought -> escape/avoidance behaviour - is shaped by our own individual histories of reinforcement, operant conditioning and modelling, which teach us how to interpret and respond to emotions.
While these patterns of responding may feel protective, they often lead to more distress and disconnection from what matters most.
The ACT Approach
Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACT) provides an alternative path. Instead of fighting discomfort, we learn to accept thoughts and feelings as they come. The goal is to notice them without judgement, and make the choice to take action aligned with our values.
Key processes include:
Acceptance. A willingness to experience psychological discomfort, when choosing a value-aligned action.
Defusion. Creating distance from thoughts; observing them rather than identifying with them.
This simple shift helps to reduce judgement and see thoughts as just thoughts, not facts.
Mindfulness (Present Moment Awareness). Instead of arguing with thoughts and telling ourselves stories about the past or future, mindfulness brings attention back to the here and now. By practicing noticing exercises and engaging in the present, we help reduce EA and reinforce more adaptive coping.
Values. Clarify what truly matters to you and develop meaningful, objective, measurable and realistic goals.
Committed Action. Taking objective steps towards your values, even when it’s uncomfortable.
Why it Matters
ACT not only helps reduce EA, it helps to increase emotional regulation, resulting in decreased defensiveness, and improved communication in relationships (Nallepalli & Murugesan, 2025).
Using ACT also helps you to recognize the emotional distress of making the hard choices to live according to your values.
The practice of acceptance, defusion and mindfulness helps to decrease negative thoughts, improve resilience and foster a life that is aligned with what matters most.
Bottom Line
EA keeps us stuck and ACT helps us move forward. By accepting the discomfort, defusing from unhelpful thoughts, practicing mindfulness and taking committed action toward what matters most, we move towards better mental health, stronger resilience and a life aligned with your values.
Driving Performance While Supporting Employee Wellbeing
Sustainable workplace engagement is about creating an environment based on shared values, appropriate resources and building resilient employees. The result is a workforce that is more engaged and ready to meet the challenges ahead.
Individuals are motivated to act in ways and pursue goals that align with their values and what matters most. When management, organizational and personal values align, research predicts:
higher job satisfaction
lower employee turnover
greater trust and collaborations among teams
Values alone, however are not enough. Employees require the right job resources, both workplace and personal and access to these resources show:
reduced stress and discomfort
increased engagement and performance
more effective responding to challenges
The Case for Resilience
Developing employee resilience should be a core goal for organizations because while workplace challenges inevitably do increase job stress, resilient individuals:
demonstrate less distress,
greater persistence, and
ability to adapt to meet goals.
Resilience is about more than just coping, it’s about the ability to thrive under pressure.
The Missing Link: Engagement
Engaged employees who see value in their work are motivated to invest time and effort into organizational goals. Engaged employees are also tend to experience greater personal life satisfaction.
Yet most employees are not engaged at work, resulting in billions lost in productivity (Lu et al., 2023).
Happy and engaged employees are productive employees, so how do we increase engagement?
Strategies for Sustainable Engagement
Identify and provide appropriate job resources to help reduce stress and boost motivation.
Connect work tasks to employee values and identity, helping them see why their work matters.
Reinforce engagement behaviours consistently and regularly, through recognition, positive feedback and growth opportunities.
Have leadership model value-driven behaviours, for employees to look to for guidance.
Bottom Line
Sustainable workplace engagement is about creating an environment based on shared values, appropriate resources and building resilient employees. The result is a workforce that is more engaged and ready to meet the challenges ahead.