Specifying in advance when, where and how one will act closes much of the gap between intending something and doing it.
Gollwitzer's 1999 synthesis distinguished the goal intention, which states what one wants, from the implementation intention, which states the situational trigger and the response. Naming the cue delegates initiation to the environment rather than to willpower at the moment of choice. Effects across health, study and voting behaviour have been substantial relative to the cost of the intervention.
In practice
- A team that agrees who raises a blocker and at which meeting raises blockers; one that agrees blockers should be raised does not.
- A person who decides to exercise after work does less than one who decides to change at the desk at half past five.