Coaching practices for Self Concordant Goals During a Big Change

Describe almost anything you are working through and IX Coach finds the practices whose real-world fit is closest. For Self Concordant Goals During a Big Change, these are the strongest matches in the current practice library.

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

  • I’m years into chasing something I committed to as a different version of myself, and it doesn’t fit who I am now
  • The moment a goal gets hard I lose all sense of why I’m even doing it
  • This used to be something I wanted, but ever since my boss started tracking it and someone’s always checking in, it’s curdled into a chore I do for them
  • Every time I set goals they end up being what I think I’m supposed to want
  • I finally hit the thing I’d been grinding toward and the satisfaction lasted about an hour before I was already onto the next target

Practices that may help

  1. 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
  2. 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
  3. Protect your sense of autonomy while pursuing the goal
    Keep the goal yours even when a coach, boss, or partner is involved in it.
    Self-Concordant Goals, Made Practical
  4. Self-Concordant Goals, Made Practical
    Self-concordant goals, from Kennon Sheldon, are goals you pursue because they express who you genuinely are or what truly interests you — not because of guilt, social pressure, or external reward. Research finds that self-concordant goals are pursued with more sustained effort and produce greater well-being when achieved, even when the objective difficulty is held constant.
  5. 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
  6. Celebrate growth, not just goal attainment
    Recognize progress in who you are becoming, not only whether you hit the number.
    Self-Concordant Goals, Made Practical
  7. 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
  8. Frame goals as approach targets, not avoidance
    State what you are moving toward, not what you are trying to escape.
    Self-Concordant Goals, Made Practical
  9. Internalize goals you did not choose
    Move externally set goals along the spectrum from "have to" toward "value".
    Self-Determination Theory, Made Usable
  10. Map your goal hierarchy
    Identify which goals serve which higher-order values so that path failures don’t threaten meaning.
    Hope Theory: Agency, Pathways, and Getting Unstuck

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