Coaching practices for Removing Obstacles to Progress
Describe almost anything you are working through and IX Coach finds the practices whose real-world fit is closest. For Removing Obstacles to Progress, these are the strongest matches in the current practice library.
Does this sound like the set of challenges you might be facing?
- The same broken thing trips me up every single day
- I always blame the lack of time or the circumstances, but honestly something in me keeps stopping me
- Something blew up my plans and I’ve just been stewing in how unfair it is
- I’ve thought this problem to death from every angle and I’m still frozen, waiting for the perfect plan before I move
- Something has blocked the path I was set on and my whole reaction is frustration and trying to force my original plan through it
Practices that may help
- Actively minimize obstacles and setbacks
Setbacks damage motivation more than equivalent progress helps — protecting progress means also clearing the path.
The Progress Principle: Why Small Wins Fuel Motivation - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - Distinguish true anti-goals from solvable constraints
Some "I won’t accept" conditions are actually design problems — not genuine anti-goals — and can be solved rather than ruled out.
Anti-Goals: Defining Success by What You Refuse to Accept - Reduce friction for good behaviors to near zero
Make the healthy behavior the path of least resistance by removing every avoidable obstacle between you and starting.
Environment Design for Behavior Change - 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 - Audit which constraints are real and which are assumed
List every constraint you’re working under, then test each one for whether it is actually fixed.
Problem Reframing: Solving the Right Problem First
Related concerns
- The Obstacle Is The Way In Practice On A Budget
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.
- Reduce Obstacles
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 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.
- 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.
- The Obstacle Is The Way In Practice When Starting Out
Ask what this obstacle makes possible that nothing else would — the way through is often in it.
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