Setting goals is the first step toward achieving success, but sometimes it can feel like our good intentions are left behind when faced with the reality of everyday distractions and challenges. Many of us rely on sheer willpower to reach our goals, but research shows that willpower alone is often not enough to overcome obstacles and maintain focus. If you’ve ever struggled to turn your goals into actions, you’re not alone. Enter the concept of implementation intentions—a simple yet powerful strategy to help you bridge the gap between your intentions and your actions by creating specific plans that guide your behavior.
What Are Implementation Intentions?
Implementation intentions are like creating a mental roadmap for your goals. Instead of just deciding what you want to achieve, you also plan how and when you’re going to achieve it. The “how” and “when” are not just an abstract idea that you assign to your goal, but are meant to transfer control of a desired behavior from willpower to the environment. Think about all of the automatic behaviors that occur throughout your day. You pick up your phone to check notifications as soon as you wake up, you brush your teeth after breakfast, you reach for a towel after getting out of the shower, you turn off the lights when you leave a room. You don’t put much conscious thought into these actions as they are triggered by other environmental events. In the context of Applied Behavior Analysis, we would consider these behaviors to be part of a larger behavior chain, where each behavior serves as the discriminative stimulus (sd) for the next behavior and the reinforcement for the previous behavior.
By applying this “if-then” formula to goals we want to achieve, we will set ourselves up for success by providing the “how” and “when” to engage in our desired behaviors, but also reduce the effort and motivation needed to complete the behavior.
Motivation - Willpower - Desire
Forget those terms when it comes to achieving your goals. If you were motivated to workout every morning, you would already be doing it. If you had the willpower to save $1,000 it would already be in your bank. Our personal goals are often aimed at changing a habit that has been reinforced and set in place for years, so we are trying to overcome a strong reinforcement schedule by focusing on the delayed reinforcement of achieving our long-term goals, which is ultimately not enough for sustained success. But by transferring control of our behaviors from the effort of willpower and motivation to an automatic reaction to environmental triggers, we can make long-lasting changes to our daily habits.
How Does It Work?
Introducing implementation intentions into your goal setting involves using an “if-then” format to pre-decide how you’ll handle situations that require you to take action.
For example, instead of saying, “I want to exercise more,” an implementation intention would be, “If it’s 7 a.m. on Monday, Wednesday, or Friday, then I will go for a 30-minute run.” By creating specific “if-then” scenarios, you prepare your mind to recognize opportunities to act and reduce the cognitive effort required to make decisions in the moment. You can increase your success even further by setting up your environment for the goal, like setting an alarm, putting your running shoes by your bed every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday night, or even going to sleep in your workout clothes…yoga pants, PJ bottoms, they’re both comfy to sleep in!
The magic of implementation intentions lies in their ability to link specific situational cues with goal-directed behavior. When you encounter the “if” part of your plan (the discriminative stimulus), your brain is primed to trigger the “then” action (your desired behavior). This can significantly enhance your ability to stick to your goals by:
1. Reducing Decision Fatigue: By pre-planning your actions, you eliminate the need to make decisions on the spot, which can be mentally draining and lead to procrastination.
2. Increasing Commitment: Implementation intentions make your goals more concrete, increasing your commitment to follow through.
3. Boosting Self-Control: By setting up cues for action, you can improve your self-control and resist temptations or distractions that might otherwise derail you.
The cues we use with implementation intentions lead to better outcomes because you’re not focusing solely on the abstract long-term desired outcomes, just the environmental stimulus that is directly in front of you. You don’t have to find some internal motivation to go running for your future health, you go running because it’s 7 am on a Monday and that is the rule.
The research is out there to back this up. A study in 2001 with 248 people looked at establishing regular exercise habits over the course of 2 weeks. The participants were randomly separated into 3 groups. Group 1 was a control group that received no intervention, group 2 and group 3 received informative information about the benefits of exercise, but group 3 also was instructed to specify the day/s, time, and location of their intended future exercise. They checked in with participants at three different times throughout the 2 week study and by the 3rd check in, the group that used the implementation intention method self-reported exercise at a rate of 91%, while the control group and motivation-based group showed no significant difference in exercise rates. While this study only looked at the effects over a short period of time, the difference between motivation and intention setting is staggering.
Tips for Creating Effective Implementation Intentions
1. Be Specific: Clearly define the situation and action in your “if-then” plan. The more specific you are, the easier it will be to recognize and act on the cue.
- Example: “If it’s 3 p.m. on weekdays, then I will spend 15 minutes reviewing my study notes.”
The “if” doesn’t have to be just a time though, it can be related to something else in the environment as well, like when you wake up, when you get home, while you’re drinking your morning coffee. Individualize it based on your own environment.
2. Keep It Realistic: Make sure your actions are achievable and fit within your current lifestyle. Setting overly ambitious plans can lead to frustration and discouragement.
3. Focus on Positive Actions: Frame your intentions around positive actions rather than what you’re trying to avoid. This helps maintain a proactive and motivated mindset. Focus on replacement behaviors, not avoidance.
- Example: “If I feel stressed, then I will take a 5-minute walk to clear my mind,” rather than “If I feel stressed, then I won’t eat junk food.”
4. Visualize Success: Take a moment to visualize yourself successfully carrying out your implementation intention. This mental rehearsal can boost your confidence and readiness to act.
Putting It All Together
Implementation intentions are a versatile tool that can be applied to a wide range of goals, from improving your study habits to enhancing your wellness routine. By setting clear, actionable plans, you equip yourself with the mental framework to navigate obstacles and stay on track.
Next time you set a goal, give implementation intentions a try. With a bit of planning, you’ll find yourself moving from intention to action with ease—and achieving your goals one step at a time.
Reference
Sarah Milne, Sheina Orbell, and Paschal Sheeran, “Combining Motivational and Volitional Interventions to Promote Exercise Participation: Protection Motivation Theory and Implementation Intentions,” British Journal of Health Psychology 7 (May 2002): 163–184.
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