How to Change: The Science of Getting from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be

by Katy Milkman

Students who had approached their goals in the typical way had a measly 22 percent success rate, while those who had made just a little tweak to the standard approach reported a whopping 62 percent success rate. So what was the tweak? It was something the study’s author—renowned New York University psychology professor Peter Gollwitzer—calls forming an “implementation intention.” This fancy term actually refers to a fairly straightforward strategy the group of students with the higher success rate used: making a plan for achieving a goal and linking it to a specific cue that will remind you to act. A cue can be something simple, such as a date and time (say, 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday), or more complex, such as passing a specific Dunkin’ Donuts on the way to the office. Often when we make plans, we don’t focus on what will trigger us to act. Instead, we focus on what we intend to do. For instance, a typical plan to improve oral hygiene might be: “I’m going to start flossing more.” Peter’s work shows it’s vital to link that intention with a cue, such as a specific time, place, or action. If you want to floss more regularly, a helpful tweak to your plan would be to say, “Every night after brushing my teeth, I’m going to floss.” Forming an implementation intention is as simple as filling in the blanks in the sentence “When ___ happens, I’ll do ___.” So “I plan to increase my monthly retirement savings” has a missing ingredient that lowers your chance of success, but “Whenever I get...