Now, you may recall that one simple way to explain the concept of values to a client is they're your heart's deepest desires for how you wanna behave as a human being. How you wanna treat yourself, others, the world around you. How you wanna treat your dog, your cat, the activity you're doing, your own physical body. So, basically, you wanna treat anyone or anything, the qualities you wanna bring to those actions. And, you can just ask these kind of questions outright, or you can get to them with the aid of a magic wand.
Now, the magic wand question goes back at least a century to the work of Alfred Adler, and then, of course, it was popularised again in the 1980s by the solution-focused folks. And, there's all sorts of different versions of the magic wand question. Now, there's two versions I particularly like. So, the first version goes like this. I wave a magic wand, and all the difficult thoughts and feelings that have been jerking you around, holding you back, suddenly they just lose all of their power.
They're like water off a duck's back. They have no more effect. So, once that magic has happened, what would you do differently? What would you start or stop doing? What would you do more or less of? And, very importantly, how would you treat yourself differently?
How would you treat your loved ones differently? How would you treat your work differently? How would you treat the world around you differently if that magic happens? The second version is very useful for clients that are clinging to the belief that I have to get approval from others or I have to achieve things or be rich or famous or successful or wealthy before I can get on with my life and do the things I really want to do. So, this version goes like this. I wave a magic wand, and everybody on the planet loves, admires, and respects you no matter what.
You can run down the street with a chainsaw chopping people's legs off, and everyone admires you as a great hero. So, you can't do anything wrong no matter what you do. Everyone loves and admires you. Now, once I've waved that magic wand and the magic has happened, what would you do differently? What would you start or stop, do more of or less of? How would you treat yourself, your physical body, your friends, your family, the people around you, your work, your environment, your dog, your cat, and so on?
So, I don't always use the magic wand question, but it's it's very useful to have in your toolkit.