Coaching practices for Being vs Doing
Describe almost anything you are working through and IX Coach finds the practices whose real-world fit is closest. For Being vs Doing, these are the strongest matches in the current practice library.
Does this sound like the set of challenges you might be facing?
- When I weigh acting, every cost is sharp and specific
- “Not deciding yet” feels so passive and harmless, but when I try saying it out loud as what it really is
- I end the day having checked off a dozen tasks and feeling productive, but if you asked me whether anything that actually matters moved forward, I’d have to admit I’ve been mistaking being busy for getting somewhere.
- I’ve watched all the videos and read all the guides and I still can’t actually do the thing
- So much of what I do in a day is just dodging discomfort
Practices that may help
- Audit the cost of inaction explicitly
Write the harms of doing nothing in the same concrete terms you’d use for the harms of acting.
Omission Bias — Why Doing Nothing Feels Safer Than Acting - Reframe the inaction as a positive act
Describe what you’re doing by not acting — make the omission into a commission.
Omission Bias — Why Doing Nothing Feels Safer Than Acting - Measure results, not activity
Track whether you achieved the result, not whether you were busy — the two are not the same.
Tony Robbins’ Rapid Planning Method (RPM), Made Practical - Learn through action, not just observation
Do the thing — physically enact, build, or rehearse — rather than studying it at one remove.
Embodied Cognition: How Your Body Shapes Your Thinking - Values compass check: is this action moving toward or away?
Before committing to a behavior, ask whether it moves toward or away from your stated values.
Values-Based Action (ACT), Made Practical - Keep OKRs separate from your task list
OKRs say where you are going; your to-do list says what you do today — do not merge them.
OKRs for People, Not Just Companies - Omission Bias — Why Doing Nothing Feels Safer Than Acting
Omission bias, documented by Spranca, Minsk, and Baron (1991), is the tendency to judge harmful inactions as less morally blameworthy than equally harmful actions — and to choose inaction even when acting would produce better outcomes. It is driven by the moral asymmetry between doing and allowing, but it systematically underweights the real costs of not acting. - Know your two selves (Adam I and Adam II)
Distinguish the self that wants to build and achieve from the self that wants to be good.
The Eulogy Virtues: Building a Life of Character - Distinguish outcomes from tasks when setting your three
An outcome is a result you can evaluate; a task is an activity you can check off — only outcomes tell you whether the day succeeded.
The Rule of Three for Productivity, Made Practical - Distinguish acting from forcing
Notice the difference between engaged action and effortful forcing — and learn to stay in the former.
Wu Wei — the Practice of Effortless Action
Related concerns
- Action Vs Inaction Moral Judgment
Omission bias, documented by Spranca, Minsk, and Baron (1991), is the tendency to judge harmful inactions as less morally blameworthy than equally harmful actions — and to choose inaction even when acting would produce better outcomes. It is driven by the moral asymmetry between doing and allowing, but it systematically underweights the real costs of not acting.
- Choosing Not To Act
Describe what you’re doing by not acting — make the omission into a commission.
Reframe the inaction as a positive act
- Inaction As Choice
Describe what you’re doing by not acting — make the omission into a commission.
- Accomplishment Vs Achievement
Measure your growth in capability over time, not only whether you hit your targets.
Track mastery progress, not just outcomes (accomplishment pillar)
- Action Vs Inaction Same Outcome
Ask: if the same harm resulted from action vs. inaction, which would you prefer? Divergence reveals the bias.
Apply the outcome equivalence test
- Bias Toward Action
Omission bias, documented by Spranca, Minsk, and Baron (1991), is the tendency to judge harmful inactions as less morally blameworthy than equally harmful actions — and to choose inaction even when acting would produce better outcomes. It is driven by the moral asymmetry between doing and allowing, but it systematically underweights the real costs of not acting.
Describe your situation in your own words to search the complete practice library.