Coaching practices for Enacted Values vs Stated Values

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

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

  • I say I value family, or health, or creativity
  • I’m not sure my stated values are real or just the ones I think I should have
  • I’ve done all the clarifying and ranking and I have this lovely list of values
  • I say I value certain things, but when I look honestly at how I actually spent my week, my real priorities were something else entirely
  • I’ve named my top values, but looking back at the actual decisions I made this week, I’m not sure my behavior honored a single one of them

Practices that may help

  1. Values clarification through lived evidence
    Infer your actual values from your past behaviour, not from what you wish you valued.
    Svadhyaya: Self-Study as a Daily Practice
  2. Excavate your actual values from your history
    Use past choices and sacrifices — not aspirations — to find what you actually value.
    Life Review and Reminiscence Therapy
  3. Take value-consistent committed action
    Translate each value into one concrete behavior you can do this week.
    Values Clarification, Made Practical
  4. Check action against stated values — the alignment review
    Once a week, compare your stated values to your actual choices and name the gap honestly.
    The Pythagorean Evening Review
  5. The values–behavior gap check
    Audit the last week: which of your top values did your actual decisions honor?
    Values Card Sort
  6. Values-Based Action (ACT), Made Practical
    Values-based action in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) means choosing behaviors that are consistent with what matters most to you — your values — rather than behaviors driven by avoidance of pain or approval-seeking. ACT distinguishes values (directions, ongoing) from goals (destinations, finishable); the emphasis is on the quality of action in the present rather than outcome attainment. ACT has robust meta-analytic support; values-based action is identified as a core mechanism.
  7. Committed action: making specific, values-linked behavioral commitments
    Translate a value into a specific, observable action you commit to this week.
    Values-Based Action (ACT), Made Practical
  8. Values clarification: what matters most to you?
    Identify 3–5 core values — not what you should value, but what actually matters when life is stripped back.
    Values-Based Action (ACT), Made Practical
  9. Audit your time against your values
    Compare where your hours actually go to the values you say you hold.
    Values Clarification, Made Practical
  10. Close the loop: check values-alignment after acting
    After a committed action, briefly confirm it expressed the value — or revise what you do next time.
    Committed Action, Made Practical

Related concerns

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