The most simple and elegant goal-striving solution you might ever need!

Implementation intentions are one of my favourite tools and something I implement regularly in my world. They help us to adapt our habits and behaviours. change problem behaviours or introduce new routines we need to do for our health and well-being.

Implementation intentions are specific and (deceptively) simple action plans for how we’ll achieve a goal. They are always stated in an ‘if–then’ or 'when-then' format and they really do work!

Example for someone who has a goal of eliminating overeating which we’ll call that goal ‘Z’

We need to create an effective response that enables us to attain that goal which we’ll call ‘Y’

And thirdly we need a situational cue for where the behaviour is going to happen which we’ll call ‘X’

So, it would look something like this:

When I encounter situation X, I will initiate behaviour Y, in order to reach goal Z.

So, for example Jane works from home and when she needs a break, she puts the kettle on and automatically opens the fridge or the cupboard to find something to eat.

She eats whatever she finds; it can chocolate, nuts, dried fruit, fresh fruit, biscuits or pickles. Often, it’s something healthy but not always, and for Jane it’s the regularity of eating between meals that’s concerning her. She can’t take a break now from work without having something to eat.

So, Jane created an If-Then plan to help her eliminate the eating behaviour whilst continuing to take the breaks.

"If it’s time for a break, then I will put the kettle on and then immediately leave the kitchen until the kettle is boiled"

Of course, for someone whose goal is to eliminate overeating they may have several implementation plans to achieve that same goal.

For example, Jane created a second Implementation intentions for when she had to go back into the kitchen to make the drink and still not eat any food. So, her second II went like this:

"If the kettle has boiled, I will make my drink and immediately move out of the kitchen to enjoy my drink"

Implementation intentions plans can be developed as new problems arise and where exceptions need to be factored in. For example, it may be that on her 10am break she likes to have a small snack since she starts work early and may need to refuel giving the mentally taxing work she has to do. So, she may create another II that goes like this:

"If it’s 10am and I’m on my break I will eat up to 3 slices of already prepared fresh fruit from the fridge."

This way she’s created space and time for the eating to happen but with rules attached as to the kind of food and the portion size she will eat.

You’ll notice that when we’re creating actual II we don’t need to explicitly state the goal since this has already been identified at the beginning. Instead, we just focus on the situational cue and the required behaviour.

Other examples for someone with a goal of eliminating overeating include:

1. When I eat my breakfast cereal, I will use a small bowl

2. If I am feeling hungry, I will have a large drink of water

3. If I go to the supermarket, I will bypass the sweet aisle

4. If I fill the car with fuel, I will immediately pay the cashier rather than walking around the store

5. If I pay for my groceries in store, I will use self-serve to avoid the sweet temptations at checkout

Setting an effective goal is crucial, as is making the situational cue and behavioural response of an implementation intention as specific as possible.

Note the difference between an implementation intention and a simple statement of a goal, for example, ‘I will indulge less in ice-cream’. An implementation intention requires that an explicit connection be made between a situational cue (when we settle down to watch Netflix on an evening) and a behaviour (I will eat my already prepared supper from the fridge). This helps to automate the process so that we need not depend on our memory to remember to do the task. Once the connection is made, the situation automatically cues the behaviour.

Implementation intentions have a moderate to large effect compared to simple goal intentions (i.e., I will take my vitamin daily) that do not reference a situational cue (when I’m eating breakfast).

Benefits are largest with Implementation intentions when people are confronted with aversive tasks (such as needing to eat less) or more complex tasks (plan 7 days of lunches to take to work). These sorts of goals tend to suffer from the following problems:

1. Failing to get started

2. Getting distracted

3. Overextending ourselves

4. Failing to call a halt to fruitless goal-striving.

Implementation intentions are important for many reasons:

They facilitate both the initiation of desired behaviours as well as maintaining persistence in the face of potential distractions, setbacks, or challenges.

The help us to drop subgoals if it appears that they aren’t working. For example, consider the amount of time one could spend (waste) researching a topic using a search engine like Google. A useful implementation intention here might be: if I don’t find an answer after the fifth page, I’ll stop searching and move on to the next subgoal.

Of course, Implementation intentions are most effective when you have a strong goal commitment. Indeed, you’re unlikely to engage in such intentions if you aren’t committed to your goal.

Implementation intentions are useful for everyone since our memories are pretty limited on remembering things we have to do through the day.

They are especially useful however for people who have poor self-regulatory or memory capacity skills (e.g., have depression or low mood, decisional fatigue, poor memory or attention deficit issues, are stressed or lead very busy lives with several priorities, or regularly preoccupied with distracting thoughts.

Self-control suffers if we engage in multiple resource (ego) depleting tasks in a relatively short period. Working hard at one task makes us less likely to find the strength to work hard at a second task. Similarly, resisting one temptation makes a second temptation more difficult to resist, unless we remind ourselves to work harder. Research has found that making an implementation intention while engaged in an ego-depleting task can help us to persist longer and perform better at a difficult second task.

It is somewhat ironic that although the focus of social psychologists has been on long-range personal goals, the most effective solution to goal-striving seems to be to make very simple short-term plans!