If-Then Plan (Implementation Intentions): Decide Now What You'll Do When It Happens

About this tool

An implementation intention is a simple if-then plan that links a specific situation to a specific action: if it is 7am, then I will put on my running shoes and walk out the door. It sounds almost too basic to matter, but it is one of the most reliably effective techniques in behavior-change research. The reason is that vague goals leave too many decisions for the moment, and in the moment we are tired, distracted, or tempted. Deciding in advance hands the action to the situation itself, so it fires almost automatically when the cue arrives.

The technique was developed and tested by psychologist Peter Gollwitzer, whose research and later meta-analyses found that forming if-then plans substantially increases the chance people follow through on their goals, across health, work, and everyday behaviors. The effect is strongest when the if part names a concrete, identifiable cue, a time, place, or event, and the then part names a single clear action. This specificity is what makes the plan easy for your mind to recognize and act on without deliberation.

If-then plans are especially powerful for obstacles and temptations. Beyond planning when you will act, you can plan how you will respond when something gets in the way: if I feel the urge to skip my walk, then I will go for just five minutes. By rehearsing the response in advance, you are not relying on willpower in a weak moment, you are following a decision you already made. Pairing a goal intention with a few good implementation intentions is one of the simplest upgrades you can make to any plan.

Gollwitzer and Sheeran's 2006 meta-analysis pooled 94 studies and found implementation intentions produced a medium-to-large effect on goal attainment, with an average effect size of d = 0.65, across domains including health behavior, academic performance, and everyday task completion. That is a large effect for a technique that takes a couple of minutes to write down, which is part of why it shows up so often in behavior-change research.

A common mistake is writing too many if-then plans at once, or writing them for a goal you have not actually decided to pursue yet. The technique works because it removes deliberation from one clear decision, so it works best applied to one or two specific actions rather than an entire routine. It also assumes you already want the goal; it helps you follow through, it does not create motivation that was not there to begin with.

Use your confidence rating in step five as a check, not a grade. A low rating usually means the if is still too vague, the then is not specific enough, or the plan asks for more than you can realistically do on a hard day. Rewriting the plan smaller, such as five minutes instead of thirty, often raises the number more than willpower would.

If-then plans are a self-management skill, not a treatment for what is getting in the way of a goal. When the obstacle is a mental health condition such as depression, an anxiety disorder, or ADHD, follow-through can stay difficult even with a well-written plan, and that pattern is worth discussing with a therapist rather than treating as a planning problem. You can search our therapist directory to find one.

Reviewed by Michael Callans, MSW
Reviewed the if-then structure for fidelity to implementation-intention research.

References

1. Gollwitzer PM. Implementation intentions: strong effects of simple plans. Am Psychol. 1999;54(7):493-503.
2. Gollwitzer PM, Sheeran P. Implementation intentions and goal achievement: a meta-analysis of effects and processes. Adv Exp Soc Psychol. 2006;38:69-119.

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