Comb B: 10 Evidence-Based Coaching Practices

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

Practices that may help

1. The COM-B Model and Behavior Change Wheel
   COM-B (Capability, Opportunity, Motivation, Behavior) is a diagnostic framework developed by Michie and colleagues that maps the three conditions any behavior requires: you must be able to do it, have the opportunity to do it, and want to do it. Research supporting COM-B as a systematic intervention framework is largely expert-consensus and observational rather than RCT; its main value is stopping you from applying the wrong lever.
2. Behavioral Chain Analysis: The DBT Method for Understanding Problem Behaviors
   Behavioral chain analysis (BCA), a core DBT skill developed by Marsha Linehan, maps every link in the chain of events — from the original vulnerability through the triggering event, thoughts, feelings, and actions — that led to a problem behavior. By making the chain visible, BCA reveals multiple points where the sequence could have been broken, turning a post-hoc autopsy into a concrete prevention plan.
3. Task Batching: Grouping Similar Work to Cut Switching Costs
   Task batching means grouping similar or cognitively related tasks into a single time block rather than spreading them throughout the day. It reduces the attention residue that builds up from frequent context switches — the mechanism is well grounded, though controlled outcome data specifically on batching as a named practice is limited.
4. Warren Buffett’s Two-List Strategy
   The Buffett two-list strategy asks you to write down 25 career or life goals, circle the top 5, then treat everything else on the list as active avoidances — not "do later" items. The story is apocryphal and its precise origin is unverified, but the underlying principle — that near-priority goals steal attention from top priorities — is consistent with how cognitive resources and opportunity costs work.
5. Match your intervention type to the COM-B gap
   Use the Behavior Change Wheel to select the intervention approach that fits the diagnosed gap — not your default.
   The COM-B Model and Behavior Change Wheel
6. Write all 25 goals without editing
   Brain-dump every goal, aspiration, and project you’re holding — professional and personal — uncensored.
   Warren Buffett’s Two-List Strategy
7. Diagnose before you prescribe with COM-B
   Before picking a strategy, identify which of Capability, Opportunity, or Motivation is the bottleneck.
   The COM-B Model and Behavior Change Wheel
8. Add a behavioral action sequence to the back of the card
   Pair the cognitive content (front) with a concrete behavioral sequence (back) — what to do, not just what to think.
   The Coping Card
9. Cope Ahead: DBT’s Method for Preparing for Difficult Situations
   Cope ahead, a DBT skill developed by Marsha Linehan, involves mentally rehearsing a likely difficult situation in detail — imagining the emotions that will arise, and practicing the exact coping responses before the event. It is not positive visualization; it is stress-inoculation rehearsal that pre-loads effective responses so they are available under real-time pressure.
10. Build branches that are MECE at every level
    Ensure each set of branches is mutually exclusive (no overlap) and collectively exhaustive (nothing important missing).
    Issue Tree Analysis

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

• I reach for the same go-to fix for every change→
• There are so many half-formed goals and someday-projects rattling around in my head that I can’t even see them clearly→
• I’ve thrown so much at this change and it still won’t stick, and I honestly can’t tell whether the real problem is that I don’t want it enough, don’t know how, or my whole setup makes it impossible→
• When the wave really hits, just thinking calmer thoughts isn’t enough→
• I’ve broken the problem into pieces but they keep bleeding into each other and I have a nagging fear I’ve left a whole chunk out entirely→

Describe your situation in your own words to search the complete practice library.