A Simple Trick to Triple Your Chances of Success

Transcript:

Hi! Welcome to this week’s training. My name is Sherri Wilson, and I want to show you something today that if you get it and apply it, it will change your life. Let me throw out a big phrase, and then we’ll break it down. The phrase is, “implementation intention interrupt.” What the heck is that. Well, first let me deconstruct a myth real quick.

Those of you who have listened to my podcast for any length of time or have been in my training, know that I target two myths all of the time—the multitasking myth and the motivation myth. Both of these create a vicious cycle of defeat and failure that can be completely avoided.

Here’s the idea behind the motivation myth—if I just have enough motivation, I can make the changes I need or desire. Let me tell you plainly. Motivation is the LAST thing you need. If motivation was the key, we could end obesity, drug abuse, and other bad habits by just telling people the benefits and horrible side effects of those activities to get them motivated. Heck, we could end murder, theft, and other criminal acts if we got people motivated enough.

Motivation Has a Shelf Life

Years ago, I read about some surprising research concerning motivation. The study was setup to see if motivation was like a gas tank that could start on full but end on empty. Sure enough, they discovered a pattern of motivation dips.

The first is the reality that motivation is always really high when you’re ready to start something new or that’s a benefit to you because the brain loves new things and the excitement of the expected end. But that motivation quickly diminishes as the day goes on and the number of decisions you have to make in a 24-hour period increases causing past habits to step in and take over.

They also found that things like being hungry or tired affect decisions. This study showed that parole board members often denied parole right before lunch and right before being done for the day. Same thing with judges handing down decisions and even juries. That’s why waiting until you’re starving to decide to eat something healthy always fails. You just want food and probably comfort food.

the vicious cycle

Here’s how it works. You get motivated and possess good intentions but then stress puts pressure on your subconscious causing you to quit before you even start or get very far.

The way to interrupt this cycle is to insert an intention interrupt.

Researchers examined individuals who had long-term success with physical fitness and found a KEY to long-term change and their success that can apply to all areas of life.

They started with a control group who only job was to exercise and write down how often they did over a week. The second group was given the same instructions with added facts and figures of both benefits of exercising and the cost of not exercising as well as sent them home with more material to read to keep them motivated.

The third group was given all of the same instructions, including materials to read but they had an added instruction—you must formulate a plan for WHEN and WHERE you will exercise with a statement as follows, “During the next week, I will partake in at least 20 minutes of vigorous exercise on [DAY] at [TIME] in [PLACE].”

The results were startling. In the first two groups, 35-38% exercised at least once per week, and, interestingly, there wasn’t any tangible difference between group one and two even with the additional motivation material given to the second group. However, 91% of the third group exercised at least once that week.

THEIR CONCLUSION: A SPECIFIC PLAN WORKED REALLY WELL; MOTIVATION DIDN’T WORK AT ALL.

Listen to this quote from the researchers:

“The researchers discovered that what pulls that desire out of you and turns it into real-world action isn’t your level of motivation, but rather your plan for implementation.”

Implementation intention interrupt is the plan you make BEFOREHAND about when and where to implement your new habit. Many feel they lack motivation when actually it’s CLARITY.

CUES

Cues added to your plan are the breeding ground for success! Cues are interrupts you place in your life to trigger your plan. The cues in the above statement was the DAY, TIME, and PLACE. Some might need more cues like using your phone calendar or sticky notes. Cues alone can be ignored, though, and will never replace your implementation intention interrupt and your statement.

But what about the things that are intangible. How do you interrupt those like bad emotional or relational habits? It could be something as simple as, “When-Then Statements” like, “When situation X arises, then I will respond with Y.”

By doing this, you activate your perception, memory, and attention to be on the lookout for the situation and respond as you’ve planned. Even SEEING yourself responding to when-then situations will start training your brain before things like that happen.

I love how the Fabulous app described new habits. I’m paraphrasing, but it said, “If you have a guest coming over to your home for a nice dinner, you create a space conducive to that guest and activity. You clean your home, set the table with nice dinnerware, where to seat them, etc. This strategy is simply creating a space, an invite for your new habits.”