Implementation of intentions - that is, how to make a resolution become a habit
Despite its rather unremarkable name, it is nothing complicated or beyond the skills of the average person. It's a very simple, yet very effective method to make it easier to put your resolutions and goals into action.
Sounds interesting?.
Implementation theory was created by Peter Gollwitzer in 1993.
and has enjoyed considerable success ever since. It describes how to "program" yourself, so to speak, in order to put your resolutions into practice. Well, you need to create certain dependencies, in that one behavior will condition another. Thus, once you have a goal, you need to establish, first of all
as .
we behave, and secondly
when
specifically to do so. The behaviors and circumstances of those behaviors:
If there is ... (situation 1), then I will do .... (behavior 2).
If the goal is to eat healthy, then: "if I have a craving for a candy bar, I will eat an apple." When the goal is to learn a new language or concepts for an exam, then: "when I am at lunch, I will learn four new concepts for the exam/vocabulary" or: "if I want to visit Facebook while I'm studying for a session, then I'll get up and do five pacing instead."
Gollwitzer's theory is about planning very specific behavior at specific times.
It sounds rather cliché, but this is how you create rituals or automatisms of your behavior, making it much easier to achieve what you set out to do. At a certain point, the desired behavior becomes a habit and doesn't cause trouble. It is taken for granted. Every afternoon tea or coffee = four new concepts, every break between classes = a walk or a half-hour workout.
What is difficult at first, with time "enters the blood".
Numerous studies show that people who use intention implementation achieve their goals much more easily and quickly.
(
Implementation Intentions and Goal Achievement: A Meta-analysis of Effects and Processes
, Gollwitzer, Sheeran, 2006). It is therefore worth a try. Compiled by Martyna Wrona - Marchel, psychologist
