Implementation - making specific and plans and triggers that ensure we will follow through with our plans
Why is it Better
Motivation is an important aspect of life and productivity, but it’s also unstable and cannot be relied on. Moreover a study1 cited by James Clear in Atomic habits when talking about Implementation Intention 2, discovered that among two groups asked to build exercise habits, the one formulating concrete plans for the exercise achieved significantly better results than the one asked to use motivation.
While motivation can give us momentary power boost, it doesn’t last long, and we rarely manage to use it. That’s especially true if we don’t have the kind of flexibility that would allow us to pursue whatever action we are currently motivated to do.
Implementation on the other hand is a reliable procedure, that is simple to follow, and we can ensure that it’s trigger is set to an appropriate time and place. By sticking to the intention, we can achieve stable performance and the desired outcome
Footnotes
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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. ↩