Coaching practices for Goal and Personal Values
Describe almost anything you are working through and IX Coach finds the practices whose real-world fit is closest. For Goal and Personal Values, these are the strongest matches in the current practice library.
Does this sound like the set of challenges you might be facing?
- 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
- There’s a goal I keep flogging myself to pursue and it just won’t stick
- If someone asked me what I actually care about, I’m not sure I could answer honestly
- I’ve got this whole list of goals and I honestly can’t tell anymore which ones are mine versus which I took on to look right or quiet the guilt
Practices that may help
- 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - Audit why you are pursuing each goal
Check whether each goal is driven by interest and values or by guilt and external pressure.
Self-Concordant Goals, Made Practical - Map your values across the four life domains
Write one core value statement for each domain — work, relationships, personal growth, leisure — before touching the bullseye.
Values Bullseye, Made Practical - Separate values from goals
Distinguish directions you live (values) from destinations you reach (goals).
Values Clarification, Made Practical - Values clarification
Name the directions you want your life to move in, distinct from goals you can check off.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Made Practical - 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 - 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
Related concerns
- Act Values Vs Goals
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.
- Connecting Goals To Values
Return to your ranked values list every time a goal, project, or decision feels off-track.
Using your ranked values as a coaching north star
- Difference Between Values And Goals
Distinguish directions you live (values) from destinations you reach (goals).
Separate values from goals
- How To Find Goals You Care About
Identify what you most fundamentally care about before deciding what you want — or goals will be other people’s.
Excavate core values before writing goals
- Identity Goals Vs Real Goals
Distinguish directions you live (values) from destinations you reach (goals).
- Values Based Goals
Return to your ranked values list every time a goal, project, or decision feels off-track.
Describe your situation in your own words to search the complete practice library.