Session 5

Trademarked Values

One of the core tenets of life coaching is that each individual has their own unique set of values. If we are aware of our values and actively look to emphasize those values, we will be happier and fill our lives with more fulfillment.

A value is an aspect of life we regard as worthy and deem as important. Most people value family and friends above all else. In life coaching, we’re interested in digging deeper and figuring out what specifically we value in our relationships with others–what sharing moments we hold dear to us. Most students are unclear about these values. By developing a clearer insight into these values, we create a simple equation for living a more fulfilled life filled with happiness.

Making Decisions

Making decisions is a simple exercise that follows the concept Trademark Values. Values are only useful if they’re being used to make a difference in our daily decisions. The exercise serves as a follow-up to the values exercise–a muddy concept if it stands alone. However, the two exercises together provide a great structure for students to identify what’s important to them and take different actions based on that information. This exercise also looks at creating systems and thinking about the actual point when a decision is made.

Future Pacing

Future pacing comes from a sport’s psychology practice of visualizing success. The concept is simple. Students use their imagination to place themselves at some point in the future when they are going to be deciphering whether or not to follow through on the values they’ve clarified. The word “pacing” is used because once the client puts him or herself in the future, they then pace at the realistic pace it will take to get there, thinking about the actual movement it will take to follow through on those decisions.

Future pacing is effective because it’s a tool to help solidify those visions and provoke clients to make that action that may have been initially challenging easier to accomplish, because they’ve already seen and imagined what it would be like. It’s essentially pre-paving the action. It’s helping students understand the implications of their habits and how to create new ones. It’s helping them understand that when they take action, benefits are sure to follow.

Self Alignment

Self Alignment is an exercise that looks at all the areas of a student’s life and applies the insights that have been discovered through the Academic Life Coaching sessions. It’s offering students the opportunity to reevaluate their perceptions about themselves and decision-making skills.

Self Alignment is for students to become consistent in their values and actions, not solely in the specific areas they examined during the first part of the coaching session, but in all areas of their life. It’s really the icing-on-the-cake of a powerful session that’s been designed to help students clarify what’s most important to them, and to imagine what the future will look like when they put those conscious decisions into action. In pinpointing the time and space they’ll have the leverage to make those important life decisions, they’ll have the confidence to apply those values immediate and relevant to their lives at the moment. Their health, academics, and overall stamina will improve.