Developed by Peter M. Gollwitzer (Goal Achievement: The Role of Intentions, 1993), later with Paschal Sheeran (Implementation Intentions and Goal Achievement, 2006).
Turns a goal into if-then plans (when a named situation arises, a set action follows) so the cue triggers the action without a fresh decision in the moment.
When to reach for it
When a goal keeps slipping because the moment to act arrives under stress, distraction, or fatigue.
How it runs
- Name the specific action the goal requires.
- Pick the time, place, or event that will cue it.
- Write it as: when this happens, I will do that.
- Picture the cue and the response together.
- Add if-then plans for the likeliest obstacles.
Where it sits in SOLVE eX
Go to the source
- Goal Achievement: The Role of Intentions, European Review of Social Psychology 4, 1993
- Implementation Intentions and Goal Achievement: A Meta-analysis of Effects and Processes, Advances in Experimental Social Psychology 38, 2006