Page 108 - JSOM Spring 2018

and provide insight into ways whereby value-directed be- challenge their sense of meaning and purpose. Clearly, the
havior can improve an individual’s health, well-being, and ability to determine how to shift between differing behavioral
performance. Military chaplains participating in the Mental sets to ensure that actions are consistent with values in the
Health Integration of Chaplaincy Services training program moment will improve an individual’s ability to maintain value-
are taught to incorporate components of ACT into the spiri- directed living.
tual care practices and guidance they provide to SOF.
Cognitive Flexibility and Agility
Wilson et al. describe values as “ongoing patterns of activity SOF Operators are continuously asked to adapt and adjust
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that are actively constructed, dynamic, and evolving.” From within the dynamic flow of real-time, life-threatening tasks.
the broader context of spirituality, values can be understood as Outside influences continually transform what seemed to
the ways in which a person finds meaning and purpose in their be static situations into complex and often chaotic environ-
life, or through questions such as “what gets you up in the ments. Whereas a strong system of beliefs and values may
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morning?” Values are individually defined, differ among in- be of benefit in this environment, at times, rigidly held beliefs
dividuals, and are service based or derived. Most people have can present conflict and result in self-doubt and questioning.
some internal driving value system that can support them, Approaches to managing these conflicts include the concepts
and this system can also change and shift over time, based on of cognitive flexibility and cognitive agility.
experiences.
Cognitive flexibility is defined as “the readiness with which
Individuals can identify their values by evaluating the ways in one can selectively switch between mental processes to gen-
which they direct their time, energy, and financial resources. erate appropriate behavioral responses.” It reflects a per-
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Although values can be related to personal goals, they are also son’s ability to use a variety of approaches when faced with
a motivating force and direction toward which persons move challenges, problems, or different unpleasant and difficult
and identify with others. People may identify values within situations. Cognitive flexibility requires an individual to have
different contexts, such as being an attentive father, a loyal “awareness that there are alternative options for coping in
brother, a trusted team member, or they may have an overarch- various situations, willingness to adapt and be flexible, and
ing value that drives many aspects of their life, such as being belief that they have the ability to be flexible.” McCann and
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a person of integrity or good steward of the earth and nature. Webb found that individuals with a high level of spiritual
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Figure 2 demonstrates how an individual might move through beliefs and medium to high levels of cognitive flexibility were
the process of identifying values, prioritizing them, adjusting likely to struggle less through traumatic events than those with
behavior, and, ultimately, improving their spiritual fitness. The low levels of cognitive flexibility and spiritual beliefs. Thus,
specific meaning and aspects of these values may change over spiritual fitness combined with cognitive flexibility appears to
time, yet they continue to provide a consistent framework that serve as a protective buffer and allows individuals to endure in
sustains meaning and persists during difficult times. the face of these severe challenges.

FIGURE 2 Value-driven living: values and behavior influence The term cognitive agility, which has gained increased popular-
spiritual fitness and enhance overall performance. ity lately, is defined by Good and Yeganeh as “the individual
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capacity to mindfully practice openness and focus, as a skill
to meet these ever changing demands.” Today, the volatility,
uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity of situations, coupled
with the constant pace of access to and need for processing
real-time information, affect adaptability and decision-mak-
ing. SOF must adapt to turbulent surroundings while also
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maintaining a coherent process for making decisions. Real-
time adaptations and the ability to make decisions dynami-
cally are essential. With these dynamic realities, maintaining
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awareness of individual and service values can be challenging;
In some cases, individuals have difficulty prioritizing values at the same time, however, they can provide the requisite foun-
and identifying which ones sustain the greatest sense of mean- dation for successful execution of missions.
ing and purpose. Values may be in conflict at certain times and
the person will be faced with managing or rearranging priori- Mindfulness, Meditation, and Prayer
ties in the moment. For example, an individual who values be- Findings from neuroscience, psychology, and spirituality have
ing an attentive father and a loyal SOF team member may be evaluated ways in which certain practices may strengthen
required to miss his son’s birth because of a deployment. Find- an individual’s spiritual functioning and cognitive flexibility.
ing meaning and purpose in the role as an SOF Operator may Mindfulness, meditation, and prayer are three practices with
help alleviate the distress of missing an important moment of empirical support that can be incorporated into daily life as
his family’s life. tools to increase fitness and functioning in these domains,
depending on an individual’s own spiritual beliefs and pref-
One strategy that can be used to identify individual value sys- erences. A person is likely to gain the most benefit from prac-
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tems is by asking yourself to imagine how you want to be tices consistent with their own belief system. For example,
remembered at your own retirement service or wake. What someone who is a devout believer in God may benefit from
words and phrases would be used to describe the life you lived, meditating on a scripture or prayer, whereas someone who is
and who would be speaking on your behalf? Chaplains are not religious is unlikely to consider prayer as a practice but
uniquely situated to assist and support SOF team members may find value by focusing on mindfulness and connection to
through this process during times when competing values the present moment.

102 | JSOM Volume 18, Edition 1/Spring 2018