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Following Through with Your Intentions
Posted By : Ellen Martin on 21-Apr-2010Why don’t we follow through on the things that we “should” do? In Following Through: A Revolutionary New Model for Finishing Whatever You Start by Steve Levinson and Pete Greider, the authors propose that we have two guidance systems: the Primitive Guidance System and the Intelligence-Based Guidance System. Each of these systems pulls us in different directions like a car with two steering wheels.
The Primitive Guidance System, PGS, has the most control and is based on instinct. The PGS responds to the squeakiest wheel…I’m hungry: Look for food. I’m bored: Look for something more interesting to do. In the meantime, your Intelligence-Based Guidance System, IBGS, has enabled you to make great plans…I should get my taxes done. I should eat more healthy food. I should exercise daily. I should, I should, I should.
The problem is that there is no connection between the two systems. Around April 1 your taxes become the squeaky wheel and your PGS will respond. You race the clock to get your taxes done. They may not have been done early, but they were on time. This is the way your guidance systems work. So you see, poor follow through is not so much a character flaw, but a flaw in the design of your mind and your guidance systems.
Now that you know why poor follow through occurs you can take steps to work around the design flaw. The key is arranging your environment so that your good intentions are the squeaks that get the powerful PGS’ attention. Here are a few of the suggested strategies to effectively follow through with your intentions.
Spotlighting – Your mind becomes distracted by many voices when you are trying to accomplish something: the ones that want to get the project done and the ones that just want to sit back, relax and not get it done. The trick in spotlighting is to make sure that you are paying attention to the “right” distractions or cues. Here is an example of a cue: You see a big, juicy hamburger on TV and then become hungry for a big, juicy hamburger.
Here are the steps involved in spotlighting:
1) Identify the right voices that urge you to do what your intentions are telling you to.
2) Identify or create a cue. Something that will stimulate the right voice.
3) Find a way to be sure you will be exposed to the right cues.
For example, a manager who also coaches a baseball team uses baseball theme to provide cues throughout his day. His intention is to coach his staff the way he coaches his little league team. He puts a photo of his Little League team on his desk, uses baseball themed notepads, and hung a baseball cap on the wall. All of these cues remind him throughout the day to do a better job motivating his staff. What behavior would you like to develop? What cue would work for you the way that baseball worked for this manager?
Going too far – Make the intention more meaningful or threatening by pledging to violate it in a big way. Essentially you make a deal with yourself. If your intention is to stop smoking, make a pledge that if you are going to smoke a cigarette, you must smoke two cigarettes at a time. You can’t just smoke one. To your Primitive Guidance System smoking becomes a threat rather than just satisfying a craving because you HAVE to smoke two cigarettes.
Right Before Wrong – With this strategy you make a deal to do the right thing before the wrong one. For example, let’s say you decide to start eating healthy snacks, but find yourself reaching for something unhealthy instead. Make a deal with yourself to eat a healthy snack first and then eat the unhealthy snack if you still want it.
You have been introduced to three strategies to help you follow through on your intentions. Try these strategies for yourself. I am very interested in hearing about your results. As you go through this, keep in mind that we are talking about your mind here. If your mind fails, you think that you screwed up. If your heart failed, you would not think of yourself as a failure. It typically takes some time for habits to change. Give yourself a break and give yourself time to fully integrate into the new behaviors.
I would love to hear what you think. Do you have trouble following through on your intentions? Have you found ways to get around your PGS?
19 Responses to “Following Through with Your Intentions”
Leave a Reply
Ellen,
Your article gives a clear explanation of why we accomplish or don’t accomplish important things…I love it! Knowing and understanding the way we are programmed will really help me make those important decisions and help me to achieve more. Thanks.
Kiyla
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Ellen Martin Reply:
April 22nd, 2010 at 8:01 am
Hi Kiyla,
It often seems that change should be so easy. We feel that we should be able to just decide to do something differently and that’s that. Then we get frustrated when we don’t follow through. I think it’s helpful to understand the way our brain’s work so that we are able to develop strategies that work for us.
Ellen
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The next time my wife tells me to go to the gym…I will reply..”Sorry honey, my IBGS is not functioning properly and my PGS is telling me I’ve got to eat a hamburger:)” On a serious note..I appreciate the scientific way you used to encourage us to ‘tune in’ to the systems God gave us to be productive and efficient. Great article.
Dr. Robert Fenell
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Ellen Martin Reply:
April 22nd, 2010 at 7:59 am
Hi Robert,
Very funny! Too bad Kiyla also read this post and knows your secret
Ellen
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Intentions are such critical pieces to enjoying a clear and focused life!
I love that you connect intentions with conquering the chaos.
Thanks!
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How interesting! This is a model I’ve never seen before!! Thanks for sharing it with us!! ♥Katherine.
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I like the idea of a cue. It’s kind of what a vision board does and I find it very effective. Good food for thought!
Linda
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Living with intention is the key to life! This is a super-cool system for converting our intentions into reality … essentially how we can get out of our own way. Thanks for sharing, Ellen.
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Ellen,
Great information. I especially like “right before wrong”. I’ll put that to the test this week.
Thanks for sharing.
Write on!~
Lisa
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I love the right before wrong and use it with my clients very successfully. A great example is this: if you have to drink coffee in the morning, eat first and then if you still need it then have coffee; another one: if you have to drink coffee, drink organic coffee (because non-organic coffee is so heavily sprayed with pesticides)
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Ellen,
An interesting way to look at intentions. The primitive mind is the part that will automatically respond and is also known as the subconscious mind. THAT is where the big changes take place. IF you are trying to change a habit you might also take a look at your dreams and what’s going on that you may not be aware of. Mind-thought…I LOVE it!
Anita
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Ellen, I liked the scientific explanation as to why we don’t follow through with intentions using the brain paths. How cool! I’m a good follow-through’er 95% of the time so I guess my IBGS must be stuck in a groove. I can tend to fail when I see a Krispie Creme donut so it’s a good thing there are very few (and none near me) outlets in Canada. But when I’m down south I will have to put your cues into action!
Lynn
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Ellen,
I hope the baseball manager Guy doesn’t ‘scratch … ….. and spit on the floor!
Great topic. It is really about how you will stop yourself and create the mindset to follow the path you need to follow. Of course there are times when – cheeseburger wins over the healthy salad.
Thanks for your post.
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I love the right before wrong too. And the violate in a big way. Going to put these to use the next time I find myself taking the ‘squeaky’ way out.
Great post.
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I will definitely be putting these strategies to the test so that I will follow through on my next intention. I especially like the “right before wrong” strategy. Thanks so much for sharing this valuable information.
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I like your strategies. For me, making things fun or making light of them is useful, and your two strategies sound like great ways to set yourself up for success and have some fun with yourself too. Thanks!
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I love the concept of ‘spotlighting” in particular having cues – I will be thinking about my environment and behavious and consider how I can incorporate this starting now!
Thanks
Heidi Alexandra
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Ellen,
They say the road to hell is paved with good intentions. What a great article. I echo everyone else that the right before wrong was a major “A-ha” moment for me.
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Ellen – Great article! Another way I have heard this concept expressed is referring to “open loops”, in that when we start something and don’t finish it (thereby closing the loop), that open loop can play havoc with our subconscious mind and really bog us down.
Thanks so much for sharing this powerful (and for me, timely) info…
Phil
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