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HOW TO ACHIEVE YOUR HEALTH GOALS

‘Vagueness is an enemy of action. Get specific to increase the chance of making something happen.’
This is my year! No more junk food, no more Friday night drinks, and I’m going to exercise four days a week… minimum! Does this sound familiar? Alas, months pass, and your plans on following through with your resolutions have fallen short. New Year’s rolls around yet again, and you think to yourself this is it, THIS is my year! 

 Trust us when we say it is not just you. Most people have experienced a similar cycle of setting an intention and falling short of following through with it. 

Intention can be a poor predictor of actual health behaviour change which is often referred to as the intention-behaviour gap. The intention-behaviour gap describes the failure to translate intentions into action1. Behavioural intention is a valid proxy for behaviour predicting 27–28% of the variance in actual behaviour across a wide range of contexts2. This means that people’s intentions or plans to do something is not a perfect predictor, and there are other factors that can influence whether someone actually follows through with their intentions. In general, using someone’s intentions to predict their behaviour will be accurate about 27 to 28% of the time, but this can vary depending on the situation. Although people intend to change and maintain their behaviour, many will not follow through with their intention.

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Trust us when we say it is not just you. Most people have experienced a similar cycle of setting an intention and falling short of following through with it. 

Intention can be a poor predictor of actual health behaviour change which is often referred to as the intention-behaviour gap. The intention-behaviour gap describes the failure to translate intentions into action1. Behavioural intention is a valid proxy for behaviour predicting 27–28% of the variance in actual behaviour across a wide range of contexts2. This means that people’s intentions or plans to do something is not a perfect predictor, and there are other factors that can influence whether someone actually follows through with their intentions. In general, using someone’s intentions to predict their behaviour will be accurate about 27 to 28% of the time, but this can vary depending on the situation. Although people intend to change and maintain their behaviour, many will not follow through with their intention.

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But how can we turn our intentions into behaviour? 

By using implementation intentions! Implementation intentions promote goal attainment by helping people who are initiating a behaviour change. The concept of implementation intentions was introduced in 1999 by psychologist Peter Gollwitzer. He differentiates two kinds of intentions: goal intentions and implementation intentions. Goal intentions are defined as end states an individual wants to attain; they turn desires into binding goals. Therefore, goal intentions can be thought of as goals in the common sense as they have the format of “I want to attain X!”. For example, “I want to eat healthily!”. Implementation intentions are formed to support the realisation of goal intentions by specifying when, where, and how goal-directed responses or behaviours should be initiated. Implementation intentions have the format of if-then plans: “If situation X arises, then I will do Y!”. Thus, in the case of the goal intention “I want to eat healthily!” a supporting if-then plan could be “If I order something to eat in my favourite restaurant, then I will take a meal that has a lot of vegetables3!”. Another example could be: “I want to lose 10 kilograms”. A supporting if-then plan here could be “If I am craving chocolate in the evening, then I will grab an apple instead.”

How does an implementation intention work?

Implementation intentions create a mental link between a selected cue or situation and a goal-directed response.

Let’s say you want to start going to the gym regularly, but you find it hard to motivate yourself to actually go. You decide to create an implementation intention, which is a specific plan for how you will respond when a certain cue or situation arises.In this case, your implementation intention might be: “When I wake up on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings, I will immediately put on my gym clothes and drive to the gym.” The selected cue or situation in this case is waking up on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings, and the goal-directed response is putting on gym clothes and going to the gym. By creating a mental link between these two things, you’re more likely to follow through on your intention to go to the gym regularly. Forming an implementation intention commits one to perform this goal-directed response as soon as the specified situation is encountered4.

 

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How effective are implementation intentions?

Action planning has been proven to be a powerful predictor of health behaviour in many domains. Implementation intentions appear to be effective at enhancing the likelihood of goal achievement. Findings from 94 independent studies showed that implementation intentions had a positive effect of medium-to-large magnitude on goal attainment. In a 2-month study investigating the effect of implementation intentions on weight loss, obese women between the ages of 18-76 were either instructed to create specific implementation intentions regarding their dieting and exercise (e.g. when, where, and what I will eat during the upcoming week; Where, when, how will I exercise during the upcoming week), or simply attend health, diet and stress-related group meetings. The women who were asked to create specific implementation intentions lost on average 4.2 kg, compared to those who only attended weekly group meetings, who on average lost only 2.1 kg over the 2-month period5. Another study sought to increase the consumption of fruits and vegetables in a young-adult population. Participants who created “if-then” implementation intentions significantly increased reported fruit and vegetable intake by portions of 50% per day (over the course of one week), as compared to participants who made more global and less specific implementation intentions – reportedly consuming 31% more portions per day6. 

How effective are implementation intentions?

Action planning has been proven to be a powerful predictor of health behaviour in many domains. Implementation intentions appear to be effective at enhancing the likelihood of goal achievement. Findings from 94 independent studies showed that implementation intentions had a positive effect of medium-to-large magnitude on goal attainment. In a 2-month study investigating the effect of implementation intentions on weight loss, obese women between the ages of 18-76 were either instructed to create specific implementation intentions regarding their dieting and exercise (e.g. when, where, and what I will eat during the upcoming week; Where, when, how will I exercise during the upcoming week), or simply attend health, diet and stress-related group meetings. The women who were asked to create specific implementation intentions lost on average 4.2 kg, compared to those who only attended weekly group meetings, who on average lost only 2.1 kg over the 2-month period5. Another study sought to increase the consumption of fruits and vegetables in a young-adult population. Participants who created “if-then” implementation intentions significantly increased reported fruit and vegetable intake by portions of 50% per day (over the course of one week), as compared to participants who made more global and less specific implementation intentions – reportedly consuming 31% more portions per day6. 

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Do it yourself

“If ________ (situation x arises), then I will _______ (perform response y).”

Goal striving: 

  1. Pick a precise future time
  2. Pick a precise future place (or event)
  3. Pick a precise how (behaviour)
  4. Speak it to yourself!

Examples:

  • If your goal is to be more mindful, a relevant if-then plan might be “If I am brushing my teeth, then I will practise mindfulness”. 
  • If your goal is to improve your sleep, a relevant if-then plan might be “If it’s after 3pm, then I will have water instead of coffee”.

The shielding of ongoing goal pursuit from unwanted influences:

  1.  What is your goal? Pick a goal that is desirable and feasible.
  2. What might be a situation that is critical for attaining your goal? Think of an opportunity to act or an obstacle to overcome.
  3. How would you best respond in the critical situation to attain your goal? Think of a specific action or thought that might be helpful.
  4. Make your if-then plan!

Examples:

  • I want to go to the gym every monday and thursday before work → If I feel lethargic in the morning when it’s time to go to the gym, then I will drink a glass of ice-cold water with lemon.
  • I want to workout → If my meeting runs over and I don’t have time to workout this afternoon, then I’ll wake up early tomorrow and run.

Motivation is short lived and doesn’t lead to consistent action. If you want to achieve your goals, then you need a plan for exactly when and how you’re going to execute on them.

Milou

Milou Rutenfrans
Health Psychology & Communications