I am not a mind reader, but I can usually tell whether someone is going to follow through on the behaviour they say they want to change.

Just by listening to how they talk about it.

They’ll say things like:

“I’m going to get back to training.”

“I want to be more present at home.”

“I’m going to stop checking my phone so much.”

“I’m going to focus on my most important tasks.”

It sounds intentional, but when you listen closely, nothing has been defined.

There’s no clarity around when the change needs to happen, no definition of what it looks like in practice and no structure to support it when they’re most likely to slip, disconnect, or abandon what they’ve committed to.

They leave it up to chance and hope they will “just remember to do it” or feel motivated when the moment comes.

But as you and I both know, it rarely does.

Where there’s vagueness, there’s usually indecision. And as long as we haven’t decided, we default to whatever is easiest or most familiar.

Today, I want to walk you through the tool that helps cut through that. It is called an implementation intention, a way of pre-deciding how you’ll show up when it matters most.

I use it with nearly every client I work with, and, in many cases, it more than doubles the likelihood of following through on the habits, behaviours, or values you’ve committed to.

And while that might sound simple, the impact is anything but, and the research backs it up.

It has been tested, and proven, in one of the most cited studies on behaviour change, published in the British Journal of Health Psychology.

In 2001, researchers set out to measure what actually helps people follow through on a new habit, in this case, exercising.

They split the participants into three groups.

The first group was asked to simply track their exercise habits. The second was given motivational material — reasons to care, benefits to focus on, a classic pep talk.

And the third was given the same motivational material along with the task to write down exactly when and where they intended to work out over the next week.

After receiving these instructions, all three groups left, and this is what happened.

In the first and second groups, roughly 38 to 35 percent of people exercised at least once per week. (Interestingly, the motivational boost given to the second group made almost no difference.) But in the third group, the ones who simply wrote down when and where they’d exercise, 91 percent followed through.

That single step more than doubled the chances of success.

What this shows, and what I‘ve seen time and time again in my work, is that motivation alone is a terrible predictor of success. In fact, most people have that, what they miss is the clarity and structure to give form to intention when life gets in the way.

It’s in those moments that the follow-through is made or missed, when the desired behaviour is either reinforced or overridden by an old, familiar pattern.

I call them choice points, moments where you can either move closer to the behaviour, goal or value you’ve committed to or further away from them.

Moments that strengthen the identity you are stepping into.

Or the one you are trying to outgrow.

To help you identify and navigate these choice points with more clarity and consistency, there is a simple, evidence-backed tool you can use.

In behavioural science, the act of turning intention into action ahead of time is called an implementation intention — a simple yet powerful process where you define, in advance, the when, where, and how of a behaviour you want to follow through on.

And in my work with clients, I’ve adapted that science into a weekly practice I call WWHSD: What Would My Highest Self Do?

It’s a weekly (or even daily) practice designed to identify their main choice point, and to decide how they want to show up in that moment.

The process is simple:

→ They identify one choice point, a moment when they’re most likely to slip, disconnect, or abandon what they’ve committed to.

→ Then they name the value or principle they want to lead with.

→ Finally, they shape a response using one clear sentence:

“When I encounter [CHOICE-POINT], my highest self will [BEHAVIOUR].”

That one line becomes their anchor for the week.

It doesn’t guarantee perfection, but it gives their intention a fighting chance, because when the moment comes, there’s no hesitation as the decisions have already been made.

All that’s left to be done is to follow through.

So, if you’re serious about walking your talk (and doubling your chances!), here’s how.

Before anything else, you need to get clear on what you are actually committed to.

Whether it’s starting or ending a habit, practising a value, or doing the one thing that brings you closer to your goal.

That commitment is your starting point.

Because unless you’ve truly decided, the rest is just noise.

You can’t recognise your choice points, let alone navigate them, without first deciding what you’re aiming at.

To put this into practice, schedule a specific time slot on a Sunday to ask yourself:

“When I encounter [CHOICE-POINT], my highest self will [BEHAVIOUR].”

So when that moment arrives, there’s no need to scramble, search, or second-guess.

You’ll already know what to do.

From there, the only question that is left is whether you’re willing to choose it again and again, especially in the moments when it would be easier not to.

One choice point at a time, subtle in isolation, transformational when they compound.

That is how intention becomes action, how values become lived and how goals are realised.

Like always, I hope it helps.