2 Principles to Help You Achieve Your Goals And Boost Your Productivity

Introduction

Ever seen an Andrew Tate video on YouTube and became so motivated and geared up to begin a new life or take a step further on a new project?

Two days down the line, no action.

Two days become weeks.

Weeks become months, then years.

The law of diminishing interest is what occurred, and this is because your motivation is not sufficient.

You must have a concrete plan that helps fulfill your goals.

Below are two principles you can experiment with that’ll push you into executing those motivations.

Premack’s Principle

The Premack Principle was developed by psychologist David Premack in 1965.

The principle states that high-probability behavior reinforces less-probability behavior. In other words, a more preferred activity that requires little or no effort will motivate an individual to do a less preferred activity.

For example, a child finds it difficult to do his homework but can spend the whole day on the TV. Homework becomes the high probability behavior of that child while TV becomes his less probability behavior.

The child is promised that if he can finish his homework, he’d have access to the TV. The TV becomes a reinforcer and motivation for such a child to do his homework.

Cleaning the room before he can play video games is another example.

Another name for this principle is the High P/Low P sequence or Grandma’s rule. The latter was adopted due to the conditions Grandmothers give their grandchildren, e.g., you can't have a cake till you finish your meal.

Implementation Intention

Implementation intention involves a specific plan on how you intend to execute your goal. It contains essential details on how you’d carry it out.

Such elements include the time and place where the action will be performed.

It simply means how you intend to implement your plan.

For example, I will go to the GYM (place) by 6:00 AM (time). I will write a new blog post in my workspace, not in my room (specific place), by 9:00 AM (time).

Powerful Combo

Premack Principle and Implementation Intention are similar principles but can be used as an extension.

You may decide to use the Premack Principle and apply it to time management.

First, you list all the tasks you must accomplish by the end of the day in order of priority. Then you resequenced them so that a more preferred activity always follows a less preferred activity with the time and place you want to carry out the task.

Using this technique encourages you to get through those more complex tasks to access the ones you would rather spend time doing.

Bottom Line

When we find it difficult to carry out a task, we can always stack it with an easier task. Giving the task a specific time and location instills discipline.

Therefore, goals are not achieved because we desire them but because we have principles guiding us toward accomplishing them, even our financial goals.

Whenever we feel motivated, we should know that this may dwindle; it's called the law of diminishing interest.

Apply these principles, and your motivation will become a reality.