Lesson 4 of 6 · The if then plan and the first two minutes
Why the specified moment does the work
Two things sitting together. The report below attaches the easing to the one who treads the path, not to the one who intends to tread it, which is the point of this lesson stated in five words. Its closing clause is worth having as well: the one who is slow paced in his deeds is not carried forward by his lineage. What is being asked for is movement, not standing. And the research on if then sentences is good, with limits its own authors name.
Qur’an and Sunnah
This attaches the easing to the one who treads the path, not to the one who intends to tread it, which is the whole point in five words. Its closing clause is worth having as well. The one who is slow paced in his deeds is not carried forward by his lineage. What is being asked for is movement, not standing.
Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) as saying:He who alleviates the suffering of a brother out of the sufferings of the world, Allah would alleviate his suffering from the sufferings of the Day of Resurrection, and he who finds relief for one who is hard-pressed, Allah would make things easy for him in the Hereafter, and he who conceals (the faults) of a Muslim, Allah would conceal his faults in the world and in the Hereafter. Allah is at the back of a servant so long as the servant is at the back of his brother, and he who treads the path in search of knowledge, Allah would make that path easy, leading to Paradise for him and those persons who assemble in the house among the houses of Allah (mosques) and recite the Book of Allah and they learn and teach the Qur'an (among themselves) there would descend upon them tranquility and mercy would cover them and the angels would surround them and Allah mentions them in the presence of those near Him, and he who is slow-paced in doing good deeds, his (high) lineage does not make him go ahead
Sahih Muslim 2699graded sound, sahihaynthe Arabic and its grading
What the research says
Across a large number of studies, deciding in advance exactly when and where you will act, on top of simply intending to, made people substantially more likely to actually do it. This is the single best supported move in this course and it costs you one sentence.
A pooling of a large number of tests of if then plans. Specifying when and where you will act, on top of simply intending to act, improved whether people actually did the thing, and the improvement was substantial. The authors flag their own limits: concerns about publication bias, and evidence that these plans help much less when the underlying goal is one you do not really hold.
Gollwitzer PM, Sheeran P (2006). Implementation intentions and goal achievement: a meta-analysis of effects and processes. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 38, 69 to 119 doi