Train in the three difficulties
Notice the habitual pattern, decide to interrupt it, and then work on making the interruption automatic.
Key takeaways
- What it is: Notice the habitual pattern, decide to interrupt it, and then work on making the interruption automatic.
- Why it works: Chekawa’s three difficulties are a learning model for changing habitual mental patterns: (1) recognising the habit in the moment, (2) choosing not to act on it, and (3) making that choice automatic through repetition. Each difficulty is genuinely hard, which is why the teaching names them explicitly — so practitioners don’t expect the transformation to happen suddenly and abandon practice when it doesn’t.
- Evidence: Plausible mechanism, limited direct outcome data.
- Avoid: Trying to complete all three stages simultaneously before any automaticity has developed — the model is sequential, and rushing it prevents any of the stages from taking hold.
Why it works
Chekawa’s three difficulties are a learning model for changing habitual mental patterns: (1) recognising the habit in the moment, (2) choosing not to act on it, and (3) making that choice automatic through repetition. Each difficulty is genuinely hard, which is why the teaching names them explicitly — so practitioners don’t expect the transformation to happen suddenly and abandon practice when it doesn’t.
How to do it
- 1Pick one mental pattern you want to change (blaming others, self-criticism, craving).
- 2First, train just on recognition: spend a week noticing every time the pattern arises, without trying to change it.
- 3Second, train on the pause: each time you notice it, pause for one breath before acting.
- 4Third, over weeks and months, the pause becomes available without effort.
What the evidence says
MechanisticThe three-difficulty model maps onto the cognitive science of habit change: awareness, inhibitory control, and automaticity through repetition. Habit change research (e.g., Lally et al.) confirms that change is gradual and requires consistent repetition.
Honest caveat: The mapping onto habit research is mechanistic analogy; the specific three-stage model is traditional teaching, not a studied protocol.
- — Lally et al. (2010), How are habits formed, European Journal of Social Psychology
Common mistake
Trying to complete all three stages simultaneously before any automaticity has developed — the model is sequential, and rushing it prevents any of the stages from taking hold.
IX Coach walks you through the three-stage cycle for a specific pattern you want to change, tracking your progress at each stage separately.
Practice this with IX Coach →