Identify and Destroy Obstacles: 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 Identify and Destroy Obstacles, these are the strongest matches in the current practice library.
About 2 minutes
Try it here: list the obstacles in your way
Name three obstacles that stand between you and what you want. Seeing them written down is the first step to moving through them.
What obstacles are in your way right now?
Practices that may help
- Find the advantage inside the obstacle
Ask what this obstacle makes possible that nothing else would — the way through is often in it.
The Obstacle Is the Way, in Practice - Obstacle — find the inner obstacle in your way
Identify the personal, internal block that actually stops you — a habit, feeling, or thought.
WOOP: Wish, Outcome, Obstacle, Plan - Take deliberate, persistent action
Perception sets you up; action moves you through — start where you are, with what you have.
The Obstacle Is the Way, in Practice - Identify the main internal obstacle that stands between you and the wish
Ask honestly: what is the primary thing in me — not outside me — that is most likely to block this wish?
Mental Contrasting and WOOP - Write an if–then plan for your biggest obstacle
"If [obstacle occurs], then I will [specific response]" — pre-deciding removes the obstacle’s power.
If–Then Planning, Made Practical - Treat each obstacle as an opportunity for the discipline of action
When something blocks your intended action, ask what virtuous response the obstacle itself calls for.
The Stoic Discipline of Action - Control your perception of the obstacle
The obstacle isn’t the problem — your interpretation of it is the first thing you can change.
The Obstacle Is the Way, in Practice - Precise hindrance identification before applying antidotes
Before doing anything about a meditation obstacle, name which of the five hindrances is actually present.
The Five Hindrances: Diagnosing and Working with Meditation Obstacles - Use the time to remove blockers
Ask what’s in their way and then actually clear it — this is your highest-leverage move.
Effective One-on-Ones, Made Practical - Map the obstacles: WOOP your life-crafting goals
For each goal, identify the most likely internal obstacle and plan your response before you need it.
The Life Crafting Intervention: Scripting Your Future Self
Does this sound like the set of challenges you might be facing?
- Something blew up my plans and I’ve just been stewing in how unfair it is
- I always blame the lack of time or the circumstances, but honestly something in me keeps stopping me
- I’ve thought this problem to death from every angle and I’m still frozen, waiting for the perfect plan before I move
- Whenever I think about why I never get there, I reach for no time, no money, other people
- There’s one specific thing that wrecks this for me every single time
Related concerns
- How To Name An Obstacle In A Story
Every compelling story has something working against the protagonist — name the force, not a person.
Name the antagonist: what is the obstacle, not who
- Identify What Is In The Way
Identify the personal, internal block that actually stops you — a habit, feeling, or thought.
Obstacle — find the inner obstacle in your way
- Obstacle As Material
Ask not "why did this happen to me?" but "what does this make possible or necessary?"
Reframe the obstacle as the material you work with
- The Obstacle Is The Way In Practice At Work
Ryan Holiday repackages Stoicism into a three-part discipline for turning obstacles into advantage: control your perception of the problem, take deliberate action on it, and use your will to endure what you can’t change. The practices are modern framings of ancient Stoic moves, so their strongest support is the same — the lineage into cognitive reappraisal and the studied benefits of reframing and action.
- The Obstacle Is The Way In Practice During A Big Change
Ask what this obstacle makes possible that nothing else would — the way through is often in it.
Find the advantage inside the obstacle
- The Obstacle Is The Way In Practice For My Teenager
Ryan Holiday repackages Stoicism into a three-part discipline for turning obstacles into advantage: control your perception of the problem, take deliberate action on it, and use your will to endure what you can’t change. The practices are modern framings of ancient Stoic moves, so their strongest support is the same — the lineage into cognitive reappraisal and the studied benefits of reframing and action.
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