Coaching practices for Identifying Barriers to Change
Describe almost anything you are working through and IX Coach finds the practices whose real-world fit is closest. For Identifying Barriers to Change, these are the strongest matches in the current practice library.
Does this sound like the set of challenges you might be facing?
- 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
- I genuinely want to make this change and I keep not doing it, and it’s not laziness
- Whenever I think about why I never get there, I reach for no time, no money, other people
- I always blame the lack of time or the circumstances, but honestly something in me keeps stopping me
- I keep throwing action plans and systems at this change and getting nowhere, and I’m starting to suspect I jumped straight to "do it" when I haven’t even really decided yet
Practices that may help
- 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 - Map your immunity to change
Find the hidden competing commitments that are holding a desired change in place.
Kegan’s Subject-Object Theory, Made Practical - 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 - 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 - Identify your current stage before choosing a strategy
Diagnose where you actually are in the change cycle before deciding what to do.
The Transtheoretical Model of Change, Made Practical - Build psychological capability through knowledge and practice
Acquire the understanding and self-regulatory skill the behavior demands before expecting consistent performance.
The COM-B Model and Behavior Change Wheel - Work through a decisional balance in the contemplation stage
List the honest pros and cons of changing — and of not changing — to unlock stuck ambivalence.
The Transtheoretical Model of Change, Made Practical - Run a gap analysis on each domain — what would move the needle?
For each domain you want to improve, name the specific obstacle, not just the desired state.
The Wheel of Life, Made Practical - Apply the experiential processes early, behavioral ones later
Use consciousness-raising and emotional arousal early; counter-conditioning and stimulus control after you commit.
The Transtheoretical Model of Change, Made Practical - 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
Related concerns
- Behavior Change Barriers
Rearrange space, tools, and access so the desired behavior is the path of least resistance.
Engineer your physical environment to create opportunity
- Behavior Change Framework
Use consciousness-raising and emotional arousal early; counter-conditioning and stimulus control after you commit.
Apply the experiential processes early, behavioral ones later
- Behavior Change Readiness
Diagnose where you actually are in the change cycle before deciding what to do.
Identify your current stage before choosing a strategy
- Behavior Change Strategy
Use consciousness-raising and emotional arousal early; counter-conditioning and stimulus control after you commit.
- Behavior Change Wheel
Use the Behavior Change Wheel to select the intervention approach that fits the diagnosed gap — not your default.
Match your intervention type to the COM-B gap
- Change Management Framework
A RACI built at kickoff and never updated is out of date the moment the first change happens.
Review the RACI when scope or team changes
Describe your situation in your own words to search the complete practice library.