Coaching practices for If Then Planning After a Loss

Describe almost anything you are working through and IX Coach finds the practices whose real-world fit is closest. For If Then Planning After a Loss, these are the strongest matches in the current practice library.

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

• My plans hold up fine until something throws them off
• I miss one day and that’s the whole thing dead
• In the calm beforehand I know exactly what the smart move is, but the instant the loss is actually staring at me the panic takes the wheel and I do the fearful thing every time
• There’s one specific thing that wrecks this for me every single time
• When I ask myself "what could go wrong with this plan," I either draw a blank or come up with one vague worry

Practices that may help

1. If–Then Planning, Made Practical
   If–then plans (also called implementation intentions) specify in advance how you will respond to the specific situations that typically derail your goals: "If situation X occurs, then I will do Y." A meta-analysis of 94 studies found a medium-to-large effect on goal attainment — one of the most reliable single techniques in goal-setting research.
2. Plan for obstacles with coping plans
   Anticipate the specific obstacles most likely to block your plan and pre-decide your response to each.
   Action Planning
3. Write a recovery if–then for when you slip
   "If I miss [behavior], then I will [specific recovery action] within [time window]."
   If–Then Planning, Made Practical
4. Pre-commit to a rule before the loss is live
   Decide your action in a cool moment so the hot, loss-averse moment cannot hijack it.
   Loss Aversion, Made Practical
5. 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
6. Run the basic pre-mortem
   Assume the plan failed, then have everyone write down why.
   The Pre-Mortem: Imagine It Already Failed
7. Run a pre-mortem to interrupt forward narrative construction
   Before committing to a plan, imagine it failed completely — then generate the most plausible story of why.
   The Narrative Fallacy: Why We Can’t Stop Making Stories
8. Review what happened after the event to refine the next cope ahead
   Compare how you actually coped to your plan — the gap is your next training target.
   Cope Ahead: DBT’s Method for Preparing for Difficult Situations
9. Run a pre-mortem before committing to a plan
   Imagine the plan has already failed and ask what went wrong.
   Confirmation Bias: Seeing What You Expect to See
10. Use if–then commitments for predictable barriers
    Pre-plan your response to the specific situations most likely to derail the action.
    Committed Action, Made Practical

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