When you set a goal for change or improvement you intend to act on it but don’t always succeed. In my last article and video achieving your New Year goal or resolutions I talked about using mutual coaching to stay accountable to your commitment.

From that someone sent me a link to an article about a brain hack or technique that is being studied at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute with promising results.

The researchers suggested using the if/then technique to trigger a jolt in the brain at an appropriate time.

Suppose your goal is to eat healthier foods for reducing weight and that means less fat and sugar. You are at a family get together and are offered a second piece of cake that you would normally gladly accept. Using the if/then technique you would say to yourself “if I eat that cake, then I’ll gain back the few pounds I just loss and feel bad about myself”.

This could also work for a behaviour change in leadership such as giving less negative feedback and more positive. You could say “If I tell that person how they performed badly then they will feel de-motivated and may eventually want to leave”. Or “if I tell that person how well they performed that task, then they will be happy with themselves and feel appreciated.”

Combining this technique with my suggestion to write down your goals and use mutual coaching will give you fantastic tools to hack your brain and act on your goals.

The one thing the researches point out is that the technique only works if you are motivated by the goal. That is why in my goal planning form there is a section for writing down the benefits of achieving the goal. You need to come up with at least five benefits for the goal to be considered motivating enough.Download my free goal planning worksheet or follow my goals training on Eloquens.  This course is on sale until January 31, 2020 for half-price with coupon SETGOALS2020