No, it’s not about motivation.
You don’t need the motivation to take action and get things done. If you need to rely on motivation, then guess what, you will become inconsistent.
Because there will be days when you feel totally motivated and pumped, and there will also be days when you feel totally down, and just want to be a couch potato.
That’s why you cannot rely on motivation.
But don’t worry.
I’m going to share with you a SIMPLE technique I used to TRICK myself into taking action and getting things done.
It’s called the Implementation Intention Technique…
Introducing: The Implementation Intention Technique
In 2001, there was research conducted by a group of researchers in Britain. They recruited 248 people to build better exercise habits.
And then the researchers divided the participants into 3 groups…
Group 1 was the control group – They were simply asked to track how often they exercised.
Group 2 was the ‘motivation’ group – They were asked to track how often they exercised as group 1 did, and they were also required to read some materials on the benefits of exercise.
And group 3 was to do exactly as group 2, but they were also asked by the researchers to complete this sentence:
“During the next week, I will partake in at least 20 minutes of vigorous exercise on [DAY] at [TIME] in [PLACE].”
Two weeks later, the researchers tracked how many times all the participants exercised.
And here’s the result…
For the past 2 weeks, 38% of group 1 exercised at least once, and 35% of group 2 exercised at least once.
And for group 3? A whopping 91% of the participants in group 3 exercised at least once over the last 2 weeks.
So, here’s the conclusion. The third group that filled out the sentence is what the researchers refer to as an implementation intention.
It is a plan you make beforehand about what you will do by when and where.
When the participants wrote down the sentence, they gave a cue to their minds as to when they would like to exercise.
And when the time came, they followed through and exercised. This is why 91% of the participants in group 3 exercised.
And this is what you should do to trick your mind into taking action and getting things done.
You use this technique, write down your action commitments, and tell your mind exactly what you are going to do, by when, and when.
You see, most people procrastinate and not taking action because they don’t have a specific action plan.
They know they need to exercise to lose weight, but they don’t do it. Because they don’t give their mind specific instructions on when and where to do that.
So, use this technique to help you overcome procrastination.
You can follow this formula and write down your action commitment, “I will [ACTION] at [TIME] in [LOCATION].”
Here are some examples:
- I will meditate for 10 minutes at 7 AM in my bedroom after I brush my teeth.
- I will read for 30 minutes at 4 PM in my office before I leave.
- I will write an article for my blog at 10 AM this Saturday in my room.
When you write down these action steps, you are telling your mind what you need to do by when and where.
You are giving the actions the time and space to live in the world.
And that’s how you get yourself to take action and stop procrastinating.
Create Specific Actionable Steps
The reason implementation intention work is that you are giving your mind specific instructions as to when to do something and where to execute the action.
Most people procrastinate and fail to take action because they don’t have a specific actionable plan.
For instance, let’s say you want to lose weight and get back in shape. That’s a good goal, but what should you do to achieve it?
You see, most people stop after they identify their goal, which is to lose weight and get back in shape.
They don’t create a specific action plan. And that is why their minds are confused because losing weight is a vague goal.
You need to connect your goals with action steps.
You want to give specific instructions to your mind as to what you want to do so that when the time comes, your mind will remind you to do it.
I’m able to write over 600 blog posts and published over 100 videos on YouTube (as of this date) because I write down exactly what I’m going to do and by when.
I follow the implementation intention technique.
You should too.
Takeaway
Don’t just set goals. If you want to trick yourself into taking action, you must give clear instructions to your mind about what to do.
Hence, create an actionable plan right now.
Write down what you want to do, by when, and where. The more specific you are with your action steps, the better.
Here’s what you want to read next: How to Turn Your Goals into Actionable Plans