Coaching practices for Values Barriers Act

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

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

• Every time I go to do the thing that matters to me, this wall of thoughts shows up
• I keep avoiding this even though I’m capable of it and I do care, and I can’t explain why
• I keep telling myself I’m basically living in line with what I care about, but if I’m brutally honest about my actual behavior the last couple of weeks, I suspect I’m way further from the center than I let myself admit
• When the pressure builds in a conversation, I cave on something I actually believe in just to make the discomfort stop
• I bend over backwards to be fair to everyone else and then quietly leave myself out of the equation entirely

Practices that may help

1. 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.
2. 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
3. Values Bullseye, Made Practical
   The values bullseye, developed by Tobias Lundgren within the ACT framework, is a visual exercise in which you rate how close your current behavior is to the bullseye in four life domains — work, relationships, personal growth, and leisure. It converts abstract values into a concrete gap-analysis, making it easier to choose one committed action that moves you toward the center. The exercise is part of the established ACT toolkit; direct evidence for the instrument is limited but the underlying ACT framework has substantial support.
4. Socialise your values and expectations to reduce hidden motivation barriers
   Others’s expectations and transmitted values shape whether you believe you belong in a domain — making implicit messages explicit clears hidden motivation blocks.
   Expectancy-Value Theory: Why You Try (or Don’t)
5. Rate your current position in each domain
   Mark on each domain’s bullseye how closely your recent behavior has matched the value — honestly.
   Values Bullseye, Made Practical
6. Stick to Values: act consistently with what actually matters to you
   Before compromising a position, check whether the compromise conflicts with a core value — and hold if it does.
   FAST: DBT’s Skill for Maintaining Self-Respect in Relationships
7. Be Fair: include yourself in the fairness you extend to others
   Apply the same standards of fairness to yourself that you would to someone you respect.
   FAST: DBT’s Skill for Maintaining Self-Respect in Relationships
8. Valued living audit: how much are you actually living your values?
   Rate both how important each value is and how consistently you have been living it — the gap is where to focus.
   Values-Based Action (ACT), Made Practical
9. Agree in advance on what good performance looks like
   Performance conversations go badly because the standard was never made explicit — the reprimand is the first time it is stated.
   The One Minute Manager: Three Practices That Still Work
10. Use the bullseye to resolve competing values
    When two values pull in different directions, the bullseye shows you which domain is most neglected and most in need of attention.
    Values Bullseye, Made Practical

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