If/Then Planning

Gollwitzer's If/Then Tactics (or "Implementation Intentions") - a short statement that starts with a trigger that often leads you to fail, and then the plan for what you will do if that situation arises.  

"fully understand how you often fail and create a plan for what you’ll do when a specific scenario comes up."

 Important Points:

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• The more difficult the long-term goal, the better it works.   
• The more issues the subject has with self control, the better it works. 
• Envision yourself taking the desired action.

Examples:

• If I go to the mall, then I will avoid the shoe store.
• If I end up in the shoe store, then I will not buy anything.
• If I go to Amazon, then I will only buy things I need.

Steps for Creating If/Then Statements:

1.  One habit at a time.
2. Set a target goal.
3. Create mini-goals.
4. Set a Baseline
5. Spitball ideas.
6. Track your bad habit.
7. Develop a Replacement Habit
8.  Set a firm start date.
9. Use failures to refine the if-then plan.

After reading this 9-step process, this seems like something I would use when working on changing habits, which I wrote about yesterday.