Essence in Action Cards
Essence in
Action
Cards
A value tells you what matters. A virtue shows you – and others – that it matters.
55 cards. One Honest, Heart-Led Conversation.
At some point in life, most people ask a similar fundamental question – what actually makes the difference?
Technique matters. Training matters. Tactics matter. However people who have worked at the highest levels – in sport, in business, in life – consistently point to something deeper. They point to values and virtues.
Values and virtues are not what we say we stand for. They are how we show up when it is hard – under pressure, in defeat, in the moments no one is watching. They are built slowly, in small choices, practised daily until they become who we are.
“We do not become courageous by thinking about courage. We become courageous by acting courageously, again and again, until it becomes who we are.”
Aristotle said this over 2,500 years ago. Modern science confirms it. And people who have built teams and individuals grounded in strong values tend to know it intuitively.
Essence in Action is a 55-card values and virtues deck built on one simple distinction – a distinction that can open a great deal.
Value
What You Stand For.
A guiding belief, standard or principle, the assumption of which can be the basis for ethical action. A value tells you what matters.
Virtue
What You Live.
A value in action – the lived, measurable expression of what we believe. A virtue shows you, and others, that it matters.
Essence
Who You Are.
The living, visible expression of your values and virtues – not who you say you are, but how you truly live with your whole heart.
Many tools in coaching and education focus on values alone. The Essence in Action cards go further – because some of the most productive conversations happen in the space between what someone believes and how they actually show up. That gap is where this work lives.
Someone who says they value integrity but struggles to follow through on commitments. A team that says it values collaboration but defaults to competition. An athlete who values excellence but avoids the disciplines that would build it.
“Is this something you believe in, something you practise – or both? That question alone can open something profound.”
The cards are not a personality profile. They are not a verdict. Each one carries a single word and a loose, open definition – a prompt for honest, revealing conversation about who you are and who you want to become.
The Essence in Action deck is grounded in over 2,500 years of philosophical tradition and two decades of positive psychology research.
Philosophers from Aristotle onward have argued that values and virtues are not something you are born with – they are something you build, through the consistent practice of living what matters most to you. Modern science confirms it. Research shows that people who identify and actively work with their values and virtues report significantly higher wellbeing and greater engagement – in sport, in work and in life.
Character strengths are not fixed personality traits. They are living capacities – present in all of us in different degrees – that can be identified, developed and expressed more fully.” ~ Peterson & Seligman, Character Strengths and Virtues, 2004
“Character is not built in the big moments. It is built in the small ones – the daily choices and practices that, over time, become who we are.”
Read more here.
The Process is Simple. What it Reveals is Not...
Spread the cards on a table. Simply look – before sorting, before choosing. That settling moment matters more than it seems. Then the conversation begins to find its own way. The deck works in person and online.
The Essence in Action cards are designed for coaches, facilitators and educators working with individuals and teams – in sport, in business, and in life. But you do not need to be a coach, facilitator or educator to use them. You need an honest hour and a genuine willingness to look at yourself clearly.
“The most important thing is not which cards someone chooses. It is what those choices reveal about who they are – and who they want to become.”
Where Would You Like to Start?
Three ways to work with the Essence in Action cards – each one a natural step deeper into the work.
1.
The Deck –
Begin
$77 AUD
One Time Purchase + Postage if Required
The Essence in Action Cards + Introductory Guide.
Overview –
- 54 Values and Virtues cards,
- Introductory Guide to begin,
- Works in Person, and
- For Individuals, Coaches and Teams
2.
The Professional –
Expand
$497 AUD
One Time Purchase + Postage if Required
The Professional Foundation for Coaches, Mentors, Educators and Facilitators.
What is In BEGIN, Plus –
- Facilitator Guide – Philosophy, Process and Reflective Questions for Each Card,
- Research Booklet – the Evidence Base and Philosophy Behind the Deck, and
- Live Webinar – How to Use the Cards with Individuals, Teams and Athletes.
3.
The Practitioner –
Transform
$TBA
One Time Purchase + Postage if Required
The Integrated Model (includes 1 and 2, plus the Deeper Models, Research and Framework).
What is In EXPAND, Plus –
- Live Full-Day Practitioner Educational Workshop, and
- Access to the Practitioner (Un)Learning Hub.
If postage is required, please contact us.
Hi – I am Jane…
For the past 24 years – across coaching, education, facilitation and mentoring – one thing has fascinated me: behaviour. Why we do what we do. What drives us. What holds us back. Whether what we say we stand for and how we actually show up, align.
Over time that curiosity led me deeper – into the work of values and virtues. And one question kept coming up for me –
Most people can tell you what they value. But how many of us are actually living it?
That question changed how I work. And eventually it led to this – the Essence in Action cards. A deck of values and virtues cards designed to help you discover what matters most and live it more fully, from the heart.
When I am not helping clients, you can find me eating vegetarian food, walking on the beach, talking to friends and family and moving my body.
“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.”
~ Mahatma Gandhi