Coaching practices for Delay Tactic Cravings

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

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

• Telling myself to resist a craving forever feels impossible and I give up before I start
• The craving hits and it feels like it’ll never let up unless I give in
• When the craving hits I get stuck in this endless head-argument
• I keep finding myself already mid-snack or already typing the sharp reply, with no memory of deciding to
• The craving to pour the drink, raid the fridge, send the message lands like it absolutely cannot wait

Practices that may help

1. Buy time with a brief delay
   Commit to waiting just ten minutes before acting on the urge.
   Urge Surfing: Riding the Wave of a Craving
2. Extinguish conditioned cravings through cue exposure without response
   Repeatedly expose yourself to a craving cue without performing the associated behavior to weaken the conditioned urge.
   Classical Conditioning and Habit Triggers
3. Locate the urge in your body
   Describe where and how the craving shows up physically instead of arguing with it in your head.
   Urge Surfing: Riding the Wave of a Craving
4. Notice the urge as it arises
   Catch the craving early, the moment it starts, before it becomes an automatic action.
   Urge Surfing: Riding the Wave of a Craving
5. Urge Surfing: Riding Out the Impulse Without Acting
   Treat an urge to act impulsively like a wave — observe it rise and fall without being swept away.
   The STOP Skill: A DBT Technique for Crisis Moments
6. A time-boxed reset, not a permanent ban
   Pause the targeted inputs for a defined window (a day to a few weeks) to recalibrate.
   Dopamine Detox, Honestly Explained
7. Choose a replacement that delivers the same reward
   The new routine must satisfy the original craving, or the old one snaps back.
   Habit Substitution: Swap the Routine, Keep the Reward
8. Write an if–then plan for your most predictable temptation
   "If I feel the urge to [temptation], then I will [alternative action] instead."
   If–Then Planning, Made Practical
9. Engineer the temptation out of reach
   Don’t out-wait the temptation — arrange your environment so the choice rarely arises.
   Delayed Gratification, Made Practical
10. Surf the urge instead of fighting it
    Urges are waves — they rise, peak, and fall without action if you observe rather than fight them.
    The Willpower Instinct: What Self-Control Actually Is

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