Coaching practices for The Adjacent Possible After a Loss
Describe almost anything you are working through and IX Coach finds the practices whose real-world fit is closest. For The Adjacent Possible 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?
- I keep planning by staring at the huge faraway goal and feeling stuck, when what I actually need is to look at what I already have right now and ask what that makes possible this week.
- This one loss feels like the end of the world when I stare right at it, and I keep checking it obsessively, which only makes it worse
- Something I tried just flopped and my instinct is to wince and bury it, but part of me suspects the way it went wrong is actually showing me something I’d never have seen if it had simply worked.
- 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
- The same choice flips depending on whether I tell myself I’m giving something up or gaining something
Practices that may help
- The Adjacent Possible, Made Practical
The adjacent possible, a concept from complexity theorist Stuart Kauffman and popularized by Steven Johnson in Where Good Ideas Come From, describes the set of next steps that are accessible from where you currently stand — not all future possibilities, only those one move away. In practice, it reframes innovation and personal development as disciplined boundary-expansion rather than heroic leaps: each new position opens a new adjacent possible that was not reachable before. - Map your current edge: what is one step away from where you are?
List everything that is genuinely accessible from your current skills, relationships, and resources — your adjacent possible is defined by what you already have.
The Adjacent Possible, Made Practical - Zoom out from the single loss to the aggregate
A loss looks catastrophic in isolation and trivial across the whole portfolio of your life.
Loss Aversion, Made Practical - Treat errors as adjacent-possible expansion events
When something goes wrong, ask what new territory the failure has made visible that success would have hidden.
The Adjacent Possible, Made Practical - 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 - Reframe the decision around the same reference point
Decisions flip depending on whether an option is framed as a loss or a gain — so neutralize the frame.
Loss Aversion, Made Practical - Set the reference point before you introduce the loss
Loss is always measured from a reference point — who sets that point controls the framing.
The Loss Frame: How Framing Shapes Decisions - Choose gain or loss framing deliberately
Frame as a loss to avoid to motivate action; as a gain to win to reassure.
The Framing Effect - Practice the abundance reframe
Remind yourself that others’ success does not diminish the supply available to you.
The Comparison Trap - The Loss Frame: How Framing Shapes Decisions
Yes, and substantially. Prospect theory (Kahneman & Tversky) established that people feel losses about twice as intensely as equivalent gains, so a message framed around what you stand to lose tends to be more motivating than one framed around what you stand to gain — especially for risk-averse decisions. The effect is real and well-replicated, though its size depends on the stakes, the audience, and the domain.
Related concerns
- Compounding Loss Framing
Loss is always measured from a reference point — who sets that point controls the framing.
Set the reference point before you introduce the loss
- Loss Aversion Framing
Yes, and substantially. Prospect theory (Kahneman & Tversky) established that people feel losses about twice as intensely as equivalent gains, so a message framed around what you stand to lose tends to be more motivating than one framed around what you stand to gain — especially for risk-averse decisions. The effect is real and well-replicated, though its size depends on the stakes, the audience, and the domain.
- Loss Frame Limitations
Yes, and substantially. Prospect theory (Kahneman & Tversky) established that people feel losses about twice as intensely as equivalent gains, so a message framed around what you stand to lose tends to be more motivating than one framed around what you stand to gain — especially for risk-averse decisions. The effect is real and well-replicated, though its size depends on the stakes, the audience, and the domain.
- The Framing Effect After A Loss
Yes, and substantially. Prospect theory (Kahneman & Tversky) established that people feel losses about twice as intensely as equivalent gains, so a message framed around what you stand to lose tends to be more motivating than one framed around what you stand to gain — especially for risk-averse decisions. The effect is real and well-replicated, though its size depends on the stakes, the audience, and the domain.
- The Loss Frame How Framing Shapes Decisions After A Setback
Yes, and substantially. Prospect theory (Kahneman & Tversky) established that people feel losses about twice as intensely as equivalent gains, so a message framed around what you stand to lose tends to be more motivating than one framed around what you stand to gain — especially for risk-averse decisions. The effect is real and well-replicated, though its size depends on the stakes, the audience, and the domain.
- The Loss Frame How Framing Shapes Decisions During A Big Change
Yes, and substantially. Prospect theory (Kahneman & Tversky) established that people feel losses about twice as intensely as equivalent gains, so a message framed around what you stand to lose tends to be more motivating than one framed around what you stand to gain — especially for risk-averse decisions. The effect is real and well-replicated, though its size depends on the stakes, the audience, and the domain.
Describe your situation in your own words to search the complete practice library.