The trigger–action plan builder

A goal is a direction. A trigger–action plan is the set of instructions that gets you there on the days you can't be bothered. This is a template for turning one goal into rules specific enough that your day can run them without a debate.

Step 1: State the goal plainly

One sentence, concrete and measurable. "Move my body for 30 minutes, five days a week." Not "get healthier."

Step 2: Find the daily triggers

List the moments in a normal day that could reliably launch the action. The best triggers already happen at a set time or place, so you're bolting the new behaviour onto something stable. Waking up. Finishing lunch. Closing the laptop. Getting home.

Step 3: Write the if-then rules

Pair each trigger with a specific action:

• If it's 6:30am, then I put on my gear and walk before coffee.
• If I close my laptop for the day, then I do a 20-minute session before I sit down.

Step 4: Plan the obstacles

This is where most plans fall over, so give it real thought. For each rule, name the likely thing that will get in the way, and write the backup:

• If it's raining, then I do the indoor session instead of skipping.
• If I sleep in, then I do ten minutes at lunch rather than writing the day off.
• If I'm travelling, then a brisk 20-minute walk counts.

A plan that only works on good days isn't much of a plan. One that already knows what to do on the bad days is the thing that holds.

Step 5: Review weekly

Once a week, look at what worked and what didn't. A rule you keep breaking is telling you the rule is wrong for your life, not that you've failed. Change the trigger or shrink the action until it fits.

Do this for one goal at a time. Get the rules running on autopilot, then add the next.