Introducing the Essence in Action Cards – Heart Led With Your Values and Virtues

Most people have heard of values. Far fewer have explored their virtues. This is the story of why that distinction matters – and how a card deck came to life to bridge the gap.

In the world we live in today, knowing who you are and what you stand for matters today more than ever. We are navigating more complexity, more noise and more competing demands on our attention and energy than at any point in recent history. And yet, in the middle of all of that, one of the most grounding things we can do is return to a simple question – what actually matters to me – and am I living it?

That is the question at the heart of the Essence in Action cards.

The Creation of the Essence in Action Cards…

Over past 24 years of coaching, mentoring and facilitating workshops across many professions, I have had countless conversations about values. People would share what they stood for, what they believed in, what mattered most to them. These were rich and meaningful conversations – and values work is genuinely important.

But something was missing. When I began to ask people about their virtues – about how their values actually showed up in how they lived and behaved each day – I was often met with a very different response. People went quiet. They weren’t sure. The question seemed to land somewhere deeper than expected.

It was Benjamin Franklin who first gave me the language for what I was noticing. Through some of the work I had read about him, I discovered Franklin identified 13 virtues he wanted to live by, and tracked his adherence to each one daily in a small notebook, working on one virtue at a time, week by week. He knew something quite profound – that a value is only as real as the behaviour it produces.

“A value tells you what matters. A virtue shows you – and others – that it matters.”

I began applying this to my own life – tracking (and noticing) not just what I believed in, but how consistently I was actually living it. The gap between the two was, at times, humbling. And it was also one of the most useful things I have ever done.

People started asking how I was doing it. One conversation led to another. And gradually, through years of facilitating and exploring this work with others, the idea for a card deck began to take shape – a simple, elegant tool that could help anyone begin this journey for themselves.

That is how the Essence in Action cards came to be.

A Question Worth 2500 Years…

Aristotle asked a question over 2,500 years ago that coaches, researchers and philosophers are still asking today: what does it mean to live well? Not to win. Not to succeed by any particular measure. To genuinely flourish – as a human being, as an athlete, as a leader.

His answer was both simple and demanding. Flourishing – what he called eudaimonia – is not a feeling or a destination. It is something you build, through the consistent, deliberate practice of virtue. You become courageous by acting courageously. You develop integrity by telling the truth, again and again, until it is simply who you are.

“Virtue flourishes gradually as individuals consistently and deliberately practise virtuous deeds. Our character is profoundly shaped by the habitual practice of virtuous deeds until they are ingrained within us.” ~ Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics

This is not a philosophical abstraction. It is, as modern research confirms, how values and virtues actually work.

What Are the Essence In Action Cards?

Essence in Action is a deck of 55 cards, each carrying a single word – a value or virtue drawn from over 2,500 years of philosophical tradition and two decades of positive psychology research. The words range from courage to joy and compassion.

Each card carries the word on the front and a loose, open definition on the back. The definitions are deliberately gentle – a starting point, not a final answer. What each word means to you, in your life, right now, is what matters most.

Who Are They For?

The Essence in Action cards are for coaches, mentors, psychologists and facilitators who want a research-grounded tool for deeper values and virtues work with their clients and teams. They are for sport coaches who understand that how an athlete shows up matters as much as how they perform. They are for leaders who want to build teams with a genuine shared sense of purpose and character.

And they are for anyone – coach or not – who is ready to look a little more honestly at what matters most to them, and to begin living it more fully. You do not need a facilitator to use these cards. You need an honest hour and a genuine willingness to see yourself clearly.

How Could They Work In Practice?

There is no single right way to use these cards. You could spread them all out and simply sit with them for a while. Or you could work with them with a facilitator or mentor. Click here to read more.

As you work with the Essence in Action cards, words will keep coming back to you. A word you find surprisingly hard to put down. That moment of recognition is where the conversation begins.

The cards open the door. You decide how far to walk through it.

Beyond Values Alone…

Most values tools stop at the values. They help you identify what you believe in – which is genuinely useful. But they rarely ask the harder question – are you actually living and embodying them?

That is what virtues work does. And that is what makes the Essence in Action cards different. They hold both – the principle and the behaviour, the value and the virtue – and they invite you to look honestly at the gap between the two.

Research shows that people who identify and actively live their values and virtues report significantly higher wellbeing, greater engagement and stronger performance – in sport, in work and in life. This is not just philosophy. It is measurable. It is real. And it is available to each of us.

A Tool for Transformation

Benjamin Franklin tracked his virtues in a small notebook. You have 55 cards and a lifetime of experience to draw on. The starting point is the same – a genuine willingness to look at who you are, what you stand for, and how fully you are living it.

That is what the Essence in Action cards are for. Not to tell you who you are. But to help you remember – and to help you live it more fully, from the heart.

Want to go deeper into the research and philosophy behind the deck? The Essence in Action booklet and webinar explores the evidence base – and how to bring the Essence In Action cards into your practice. You can read more here.