How do you set up a psychologically flexible life that’s about thriving and taking action toward meaningful goals? How do you know what your values are and how can you use the ACT process of values to flourish? In this first episode of Your Life in Process, Dr. Diana Hill introduces a way of living that’s about turning toward what matters most to you and asks you three provocative questions to explore your values. You will learn how to spot your values in your everyday life, and get a deeper understanding of what it means to live your life “in process”.

About Dr. Diana Hill

Diana Hill, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist, speaker, and co-author of ACT Daily Journal: Get unstuck and live fully with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. A specialist in Acceptance and Commitment Training, Diana guides high achievers, leaders, and organizations to develop psychological flexibility so that they can take wise action toward more fulfilling and meaningful lives. Diana hosts the podcast Your Life in Process, blogs for Psychology Today, teaches on Insight Timer, is on the clinical advisory board of Lightfully Behavioral Health, and is a guest teacher at InsightLA, Blue Spirit Costa Rica, PESI, and PraxisCET. Go to drdianahill.com or her channels on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube (@drdianahill) to learn more.

Key Takeaways

• Psychological flexibility is a modern approach to living that involves knowing what you care about, staying present, and acting on that care even in the face of obstacles.
• When you act on your values, you act in a way that is consistent with the type of person you want to be in the world
• Three questions to explore your values: What was a moment this past week when you experienced sweetness? When did you experience pain or discomfort? When did you experience envy? What do these moments tell you about what you care about?
• Psychological flexibility is a good idea because it is science-backed, it’s personalized, it involves core processes that you can apply to many domains of your life, and you can grow stronger at it with practice

Related Resources

• Download Your Daily Practice for this episode
• Find out what kind of Striver you are and get your free Skillful Striving Toolkit
• Check out the Sweet Spot Exercise in Mindfulness for Two: An Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Approach to Mindfulness in Psychotherapy by Kelly Wilson
• The Future of Intervention Science: Process-Based Therapy by Stefan Hoffman and Steven C. Hayes
• Diana’s blog post on the 6 Core Processes of ACT
• Diana’s interview with Steven Hayes, co-founder of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
• Try these 6 body-based practices to grow your psychological flexibility
• Learn more about the link between values and pain

Diana’s Events

• Reserve your spot in Diana’s Reset and Restore Retreat in Costa Rica in 2023!
• Sign up for Diana’s From Striving to Thriving Summit!
• See Diana at an upcoming event

Connecting With Diana

Thank you for listening to Your Life in Process! Subscribe to the podcast for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts. If you have any questions or feedback you can contact Diana by email podcast@yourlifeinprocess.com or leave Diana an audio message at (805) 457-2776. Follow Diana at YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Diana’s website.

Thank you to the team Craig, Angela Stubbs, Ashley Hiatt, and Abby Diehl. Thank you to Benjamin Gould of Bell & Branch for your beautiful music.

Remember when you become psychologically flexible, you become free.

Episode Segments

• [00:00] Introduction
• [00:29] Meet Dr. Diana Hill
• [01:13] What Is Psychological Flexibility?
• [05:59] What Are Values?
• [11:52] 3 Questions To Explore Your Values
• [22:37] Why Psychological Flexibility Is A Good Idea
• [31:00] Tangible Takeaways
• [32:04] Your Daily Practice
• [33:21] Connect With The Podcast