10-Be intentional about the things
Having a clear plan gets you closer to the things
Almost back to regularly scheduled programming. Almost.
The past couple weeks have been a delightful departure from my regular life schedule. Ideally I would have this newsletter ready on Sunday night, scheduled to appear in your mailbox bright and early on Monday morning but alas, as a result of my travels, that hasn’t been the case in the past couple weeks.
When I was starting this newsletter, one of the first things I did was decide what day I wanted it to go out. After many years of adding “Write more” to my list of New Year resolutions and not actually writing more, I knew that leaving it to chance and the occasional burst of motivation would be akin to planning to fail by failing to plan. (I can still see this thought for the week on the QC noticeboard).
Once I decided this letter had to be out on Monday, I removed my thinking brain from the decision process of to write or not to write. I had a self imposed mandate which does not allow for things like waiting for a burst of motivation. This is why even with my schedule being all over the place, I have still managed to produce a letter for each week, however delayed.
That is what implementation intention does for you.
We all have these grand and noble intentions for our lives.
I want to eat healthier.
I want to get promoted at work.
I want learn a new language.
But without being intentional and making a concrete plan, chances are we’re either not able to achieve these goals or we end up taking much longer than necessary to achieve them.
Implementation intention makes use of two of the most common cues that trigger our habits: Time and Location. Making a plan of what behaviour to carry out at a specified time or place is more likely to increase your chances of following through with said behaviour.
Specifying the time and location is an easy way to give yourself cues that trigger the desired behaviours.
For example, say you want to eat healthier but you’ve not made any plans as to how exactly you might start to eat healthy. Chances are you are likely to continue eating the same way you have always eaten, with the occasional “healthy” meal thrown in. Instead you could make a plan like “I will pack a healthy snack bag for lunch at work everyday”. If you manage to stick with this plan then you already have at least 5 days a week of eating a healthy lunch. And just by doing that you are already eating healthier.
Or maybe you want to learn a new language, so you download Duolingo and for a few days you respond to the prompts and do a few lessons. Then the excitement fizzles and you forget the app. Not even the pesky notifications or email reminders are enough to get you to commit to daily practice. If you are committed to learning this new language, you could choose a particular time of day, set an alarm and dedicate a small amount of time to your daily language practice, and slowly but surely, your road to being multilingual becomes clearer.
I’ve been telling myself for years that I want to get more flexible but it’s only this year that I finally put myself on a schedule. Yoga Sundays. So now when Sunday rolls around, I know that I must find at least a 45 minute window for my yoga practice.
Leaving things to chance and hoping to be motivated at the right time are both elements of planning to fail. In fact I do not believe in motivation. Motivation is a great place to start, but it is also fleeting and unreliable. Clarity trumps motivation every time.
Making a clear plan, that’s clarity. And clarity will do so much more for you than motivation ever could. Clarity will also make it easier for you to say no to the things that could distract or derail you.
If you know you have a 6pm appointment with your personal trainer who you have paid money to, then it is much easier for you to turn down after work drinks with your friends.
If you have a healthy lunch packed, you’re less likely to end up eating something less healthy.
It is all in the details, so be as detailed as possible. The more detailed your plan is, the less work your brain has to do, the more efficient you are and the higher your chances of success. For example I currently have a 3 times a week workout schedule, so I know that on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, I’m going to workout. To further optimise my workout time, I am following a workout program, so I can tell you exactly how many sets and how many reps of each exercise I’ll be doing on any given day.
This small step has eliminated the when and the what of my workouts. The time I would typically spend trying to decide between deadlifts and squats can now be put to better use, like taking workout selfies or longer dance breaks between sets.
Being intentional is not easy. It does take work. And effort. And commitment. So it really is up to you how important a thing is, as this would determine the level of effort you’re willing to put in.
Think about that vision board you made at the beginning of the year. It is not enough to cut out some pictures and paste them on cardboard paper. If you’re not making clear plans on how you intend to achieve every goal depicted by those pictures, chances are by the time next year rolls around you will not have made the desired progress because you haven’t been intentional.
Make a plan.
If it is important enough, you will make the time to be intentional about it.
I’m back at work for what is my last week of my current job and I am super excited that my time here is very nearly almost done. I am excited for the most part and doing my best not be be anxious about how this affects my immigration status, seeing as my new position doesn’t start until August. As a reformed pessimist and practicing optimist, I am choosing to focus on the excitement, while sending emails to the right authorities lest I end up in a I thy know situation.
This week I am reading
Nothing to see here by Kevin Wilson.
Here’s wishing you an intentional week.
Chioma.