Coaching practices for Values Affirmation Writing

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

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

  • I’ve got a big evaluation looming and I can already feel myself bracing to defend my whole worth on it
  • Before any big evaluation my whole sense of worth narrows down to how I’ll perform in that one room, and if I bomb it I feel like I’m worthless as a person
  • When I’m rattled and need to ground myself in what actually matters to me, I freeze
  • I’ve tried saying the big confident lines in the mirror and they just ring hollow
  • I keep telling myself "I’m great at this, I’ve got this" right before the thing I’m scared of, and it somehow makes me feel worse

Practices that may help

  1. Write about a value that matters to you
    Before a stressful or threatening situation, spend five minutes writing about a value that is genuinely important to you.
    Self-Affirmation Theory, Made Practical
  2. Use value-based self-affirmation before threatening evaluations
    Before a threatening evaluation, write for 10 minutes about a value that matters to you — unrelated to the domain being evaluated.
    Power Posing Revisited
  3. Map your value hierarchy
    Rank what you most value so you can draw on the strongest affirmation when you need it.
    Self-Affirmation Theory, Made Practical
  4. Affirmations
    Repeat chosen statements about who you are and what you’re committed to.
    The Miracle Morning, Made Practical
  5. Use affirmation of values, not affirmation of ability
    Affirm that you are a good person with important values — not that you are good at the specific thing you are anxious about.
    Self-Affirmation Theory, Made Practical
  6. 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
  7. The practice of self-assertiveness
    Honor your wants, needs, and values by expressing them in the world — appropriately and openly.
    The Six Pillars of Self-Esteem, Made Practical
  8. Use values affirmation to counter stereotype threat
    When your social identity is under threat, a brief values reflection can protect performance.
    Self-Affirmation Theory, Made Practical
  9. Affirm genuine strengths and effort
    Notice and name real strengths the person brings — not empty praise.
    Motivational Interviewing, Made Practical
  10. The Absent But Implicit: What Problems Reveal About What We Value
    Every problem story implies a violated value — surfacing that value reveals the person’s strengths, not just their struggles.
    Narrative Therapy: Rewriting the Stories That Define You

Related concerns

Describe your situation in your own words to search the complete practice library.

Practice this with IX Coach

Try this practice