Use the if-then statement

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STORY
How to build better habits

You probably already know that smoking is one of the hardest habits to break.

But did you know that a simple mental trick—saying “If I feel like smoking, then I’ll chew gum”—can double someone’s chances of quitting?

In the early 2000s, psychologists Peter Gollwitzer (of NYU) and Paschal Sheeran (of UNC Chapel Hill) recruited a group of smokers looking to quit and put them into two groups. 

One group received vague encouragement: “Do your best.” 

The other created a specific if/then plan—for example, “If I get the urge to smoke, then I’ll chew gum instead.”

The results?

Smokers who used if/then statements were twice as likely to quit than those who didn’t—not because they wanted it more but because they’d already made the decision before the urge hit.

This strategy—known as an “implementation intention” (“a goal-setting technique in which an individual commits to perform a particular behavior when a specific context arises”)—helped them “pre-program” their behavior. 

UNSPOKEN RULE
Use the if-then statement

What this study taught me is the difference between having a goal and having a plan.

How can you make “if-then” thinking work for you?

4 steps:

1. Take an abstract goal

E.g., “I want to network more.”

2. Pick a situation where you have the opportunity to work towards achieving this goal 

E.g., “When I bump into a stranger in the hallway.”

3. Take one thing you can do in that exact moment

E.g., “Say ‘hi’” (since it gives you permission to greet them—and talk to them—next time)

4. Bring it all together in an “if-then” statement

E.g., “If I see someone walking towards me in the hallway, then I’ll look up, and, if we make eye contact, then I’ll nod, smile, and say, ‘Hi!’”

Try this once and you’ll soon realize, as I did, that it can work in every situation in life:

• “If I have a question for my manager, then I’ll first brainstorm what I’d do myself and either try it first or ask for their reactions.”
  

• “If I get invited to something, then I’ll look up the location on Google Maps, see how long it’d take me to get there, and add the necessary buffer time in my calendar so I remind myself to leave on time.”
  

• “If I wake up in the morning, then I’ll get out of bed before looking at my phone.”

Before long, you’ll realize, as I also did, that high achievers in every profession operate this way by instinct. Whether it’s top athletes or seasoned executives, they don’t make decisions from scratch each time. They have a pre-planned response. They build defaults.

Make it easier to be your best self!

—Gorick

What’s an “unspoken rule”? They’re the things that separate those who get ahead from those who stumble—and don’t know why. You can learn more about these rules in the workplace in my Wall Street Journal bestselling book called—you guessed it—The Unspoken Rules.

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Gorick Ng
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Harvard career advisor | WSJ bestselling author | Fortune 500 keynote speaker | First-gen

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Sources

1. double someone’s chances of quitting

2. Peter Gollwitzer and Paschal Sheeran studied

3. Smokers who used if/then statements were twice as likely to quit

4. “a goal-setting technique in which an individual commits to perform a particular behavior when a specific context arises.”