Coaching practices for Behavioral Bridge Possible Selves

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

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

• I’ve got this clear, vivid picture of the person I want to become, and I love daydreaming about them
• The future I want for myself feels so out of reach that part of me has filed it under "people like me don’t get there"
• Stuck at a hard choice, "can I even do this?" just loops in my head and freezes me
• The inspiring vision of who I want to be gets me fired up for a day or two and then quietly fades
• I’m still grinding toward a version of "successful me" I dreamed up years ago, and it’s stopped lighting me up

Practices that may help

1. Build a behavioral bridge to the possible self
   Identify one specific behavior your hoped-for self does that you can do today — then do it.
   Possible Selves, Made Practical
2. Possible Selves, Made Practical
   Hazel Markus’s possible-selves framework holds that motivation is driven not only by who we are now but by vivid mental representations of who we could become — including hoped-for and feared future selves. These cognitive structures provide direction and energy for behavior, and deliberately developing them is a tractable approach to sustained motivation.
3. Find living examples of your hoped-for self
   Identify real people who embody your hoped-for self — their existence makes the representation concrete and credible.
   Possible Selves, Made Practical
4. Borrow an identity temporarily by asking "what would [person] do?"
   Temporarily adopting a role model’s identity in a specific context lowers the friction of acting as they would.
   Identity Priming, Made Practical
5. Pair the hoped-for self with a feared counterpart
   Identify the feared version of your future self in the same domain — the pairing produces more sustained motivation than hope alone.
   Possible Selves, Made Practical
6. Update and revise possible selves over time
   Revisit and rewrite your possible selves at least twice a year — the self you need to become changes as you grow.
   Possible Selves, Made Practical
7. Use commitment devices to make future behavior harder to avoid
   Pre-commit to the behavior now — when your current self is motivated — to bind your future self.
   Action Planning
8. Use a precommitment device to lock in future behavior
   Restrict your future self’s choices now, when motivation is high.
   Nudge Theory, Made Practical
9. Use precommitment devices to bind your present self to your future self’s preferences
   Commit future behavior before the moment of temptation, because your present self is the weak link.
   Future Self Continuity, Made Practical
10. Filter decisions through "what would future me thank me for?"
    Before significant decisions, ask whether your future self will be grateful or resentful.
    Future Self Continuity, Made Practical

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