Fun fact: Strava, known for their app for athletes, concluded based on the data of millions of users that 80 percent of them have already stopped their New Year’s resolutions in the second week of February. The biggest drop occurs on January 19. Quitter’s Day they call that day.
In theory, of course, it is not difficult. Permanently changing things in the way you work or live requires two things: start and persevere. But in practice, both are complicated. First about getting started. It is difficult to measure how many people consider a change, but do not start. say well researchers who focus on different phases of change that the step to make a concrete plan and the step to take action are the most difficult. Perhaps also logical. We like to think and talk about smarter living. That has a high entertainment value. But making a plan and taking action is mostly hard work. We prefer to wait a little longer. And then a little longer. Chronic contemplation that’s called. In this way, most changes fail before we even start.
Then keep it up. Once you have started your new lifestyle or work routine, you will soon run into obstacles. The starting pleasure, the natural motivation you feel with something new, quickly disappears. In addition, we often fall back into old patterns at stressful times. For example, when the people around us oppose us. It is also difficult when circumstances change. Have you just settled into your new sports routine that fits so nicely into your working week, you suddenly have two weeks of vacation and everything collapses.
Is there anything that can be done about this? Behavioral researchers have been arguing for the use of so-called implementation intentions for about twenty years. The term comes from the German researcher Peter Gollwitzer, currently affiliated with New York University. The idea is simple: to start with a change and to sustain it in difficult moments, you have to concretely describe the desired behavior within the context in which it has to take place. So not: I want to move a little more. But: every Monday and Thursday, when I get home from work, I immediately go for a half hour run. And: if colleagues react badly to my new approach, I remind myself why this change is important to me.
An implementation intent is also known as an “if-then intention” because the structure is usually: if X happens, I’ll do Y. Why does this work? Linking specific actions to a recognizable stimulus (a time, a situation, behavior of others) ensures that you automatically think of your intention when necessary. And working out your reaction to difficult situations in advance also ensures that you don’t think until afterwards: ah, I should have done that.
There is, however, a catch. Formulating such an implementation intention is also a behavioral change for most people. In that case, it might help to say: If I think about an important resolution today, I immediately take five minutes to work out an implementation intention.
Ben Tiggelaar writes weekly about personal leadership, work and management.
A version of this article also appeared in NRC Handelsblad on 8 January 2022
A version of this article also appeared in NRC on the morning of January 8, 2022
#Good #intentions #fail #protect