Coaching practices for Implementation Intention Values

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

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

  • I genuinely intend to do the thing
  • I know what matters to me in the abstract, but it stays a nice idea
  • I’ve identified the area I want to change and now I’m just sitting on a vague intention like "be more present with my kids"
  • I genuinely mean to do it, but the day swallows it every time and “I’ll get to it” never actually turns into doing it
  • I have these big stirring intentions about leaving something behind and making the world a little better, but they just float there as inspiration

Practices that may help

  1. Set if-then implementation intentions for goal behaviors
    Specify when, where, and how you’ll act — not just whether you intend to.
    Hyperbolic Discounting — Why Future You Always Gets the Short End
  2. 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
  3. Turn the chosen domain into a committed action
    Convert the domain insight into a concrete, timed, values-linked behavior — not a vague intention.
    Values Bullseye, Made Practical
  4. Write when, where, and how plans for every behavioral goal
    Specify exactly when, where, and how you will act — not just what you intend to do.
    Action Planning
  5. Ground transcendental future thinking in present action
    If your motivation is legacy or meaning-based, translate it into a concrete this-week action.
    Time Perspective Therapy
  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. Close with a forward-looking resolve
    Choose one concrete intention to carry into tomorrow before closing the review.
    The Ignatian Examen: Five Movements of Daily Review
  8. Specify the when and where for every goal action
    "I will do [behavior] at [time] in [location]" — specificity creates an automatic trigger.
    If–Then Planning, Made Practical
  9. Make a small public commitment that locks in the identity
    A simple public or written commitment to an identity generates internal pressure to act consistently with it.
    Identity Priming, Made Practical
  10. End every AAR with one specific, time-bound next action
    An AAR without a concrete next action produces insight without change.
    After-Action Review: The US Army’s Tool for Continuous Learning

Related concerns

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