Coaching practices for Difference Between Values and Goals

Describe almost anything you are working through and IX Coach finds the practices whose real-world fit is closest. For Difference Between Values and Goals, these are the strongest matches in the current practice library.

Does this sound like the set of challenges you might be facing?

  • I keep hitting the milestones I chase
  • There’s a goal I keep flogging myself to pursue and it just won’t stick
  • The moment a goal gets hard I lose all sense of why I’m even doing it
  • Every time I set goals they end up being what I think I’m supposed to want
  • No matter how much I improve, my goals are always pegged to beating other people

Practices that may help

  1. Separate values from goals
    Distinguish directions you live (values) from destinations you reach (goals).
    Values Clarification, Made Practical
  2. Using your ranked values as a coaching north star
    Return to your ranked values list every time a goal, project, or decision feels off-track.
    Values Card Sort
  3. Anchor each goal to a named, personal value
    Make the goal an expression of a specific value so it stays motivating when difficulty peaks.
    Self-Concordant Goals, Made Practical
  4. Excavate core values before writing goals
    Identify what you most fundamentally care about before deciding what you want — or goals will be other people’s.
    The Life Crafting Intervention: Scripting Your Future Self
  5. Orient toward mastery rather than performance comparison
    Set goals against your own past standard rather than against others.
    Approach vs Avoidance Goals
  6. Strengthen goal commitment through the means you choose
    The path you commit to shapes how strongly you pursue the goal — different means produce different levels of dedication.
    Goal Systems Theory: How Goals Work Together (and Against Each Other)
  7. Review and update anti-goals annually as values evolve
    Anti-goals based on your 28-year-old priorities may be wrong for your 38-year-old ones — review them explicitly.
    Anti-Goals: Defining Success by What You Refuse to Accept
  8. Relevant — anchor it to what you actually want
    Confirm the goal serves a value or larger aim you genuinely hold.
    SMART Goals That Actually Move
  9. Link every action to a named value
    Before you begin, name the value the action expresses — not just the goal it serves.
    Committed Action, Made Practical
  10. Review goal-self fit at regular intervals
    As you grow, some formerly self-concordant goals become misaligned — review them deliberately.
    Self-Concordant Goals, Made Practical

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