Implementation Intentions

from Art of Manliness article

So those obstacles certainly stack the odds against you. But there is a way to fight back: priming your brain for success by formulating an implementation intention (“II”).

An II is simply a plan in which you link a situational cue with a response that will bring you closer to fulfilling your goal. To do this, all you have to do is reframe your goals as “if-then” statements. The “if” part is the situational cue; the “then” part is your planned response to that cue.

Thus your goal of “working out more” becomes “If it is Monday, Wednesday, or Friday at 7AM, then I will leave for the gym.”

“I want to plan regularly” becomes “If it’s 9PM on Sunday night, then I will make my schedule for the coming week.”

“I want to save $2,000 this year” becomes “When I get my paycheck, I will deposit 10% into my savings account.”

“I want to reduce my caffeine consumption” becomes “When I get a craving for coffee, then I will drink a glass of water.”

“I want to be more patient” becomes “If I feel myself getting angry, then I will take three breaths.”

You’re probably thinking, “There’s no way that something so simple can actually work.” But over a decade of research and nearly a hundred studies have shown that not only are implementation intentions highly effective, they can actually double a person’s likelihood of achieving their goals.

In one such experiment, two groups of students were asked to write essays over their Christmas break about how they spent their Christmas Eve. The essay was due 48 hours after Dec. 24. Researchers gave one group of students a questionnaire requesting that they specify where and when during that 48 hour period they planned on writing the essay. Effectively, they were asking these students to create an implementation intention without them knowing it (“If it’s December 26 at 3PM, then I’m writing my essay at the library”).

The other group wasn’t asked to specify when and where they planned to write their essays. They didn’t create implementation intentions.

The result? Only 32% of the non-implementation intention students finished the assignment on time, while 71% of the students who created an implementation intention completed the task. In other words, the act of creating an II doubled the students’ chances of achieving the goal.