Coaching practices for Implementation Intentions for Values

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

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

  • 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 have these big stirring intentions about leaving something behind and making the world a little better, but they just float there as inspiration
  • I genuinely intend to do the thing
  • I’ve done all the clarifying and ranking and I have this lovely list of values

Practices that may help

  1. 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
  2. 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
  3. 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.
  4. 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
  5. 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
  6. Take value-consistent committed action
    Translate each value into one concrete behavior you can do this week.
    Values Clarification, Made Practical
  7. Write a values declaration as the core of your legacy letter
    Name the two to four values you most want to have lived by — then write why they matter to you.
    The Legacy Letter: Writing What You Want to Leave Behind
  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. 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
  10. Defuse from thoughts that block values-based action
    Identify the specific thoughts that stop you from acting on your values, and apply defusion rather than argument.
    Values-Based Action (ACT), Made Practical

Related concerns

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