Good News: Poor Follow Through May Not Be Your Fault

THIEF RIVER FALLS, Minn. - Feb. 10, 2015 - PRLog -- In their recently republished book, Following Through: A Revolutionary New Model for Finishing Whatever You Start, authors Dr. Steve Levinson and Pete Greider argue that poor follow through – failing to actually do what we know we really should do and truly intend to do – is not exactly our fault.

So whose fault is it? According to Levinson and Greider, the root cause of poor follow through is the  mixed-up way the human mind is designed. "The human mind," the authors insist, "just isn't hard-wired for following through."

Following Through goes beyond absolving us of guilt for all the good intentions that get lost in the shuffle. A central premise of the book is that a key to improving follow through is to recognize that the mind on its own does a lousy job of turning good intentions into life-improving action. If we foolishly  expect our good intentions to automatically drive our behavior, the authors explain, we're bound to fail. But If we recognize that we simply can't expect to follow through automatically, we can learn how to do it manually, that is, by using follow through strategies.

Following Through presents readers with a follow through toolkit made up of seven follow through strategies. Each strategy reflects a different approach to transforming good intentions into action. Willpower Leveraging, for example, facilitates follow through by reducing the amount of willpower you need to behave in accord with a given intention. An example of this strategy is getting a big dog in order to follow through on your intention to get more physical exercise. Another strategy is Going Too Far, which paradoxically uses the threat of seriously violating a given intention to make that intention more effective. An example of Going Too Far, is making a deal like this with yourself: "If I eat any of the cookies I've completely sworn off, I must eat three of them." Creating Compelling Reasons, helps you follow through by giving you a truly compelling reason to follow through when the good, right or sensible reasons just don't do the trick. An example is promising to make a large donation to a charity you hate unless you follow through on your intention to file your tax return by the end of March.

Following Through was first published in 1998 by Kensington Publishing. A second edition was published in 2007 by Unlimited Publishing. The recently published third edition is available in paperback format through most online booksellers. The book is also available in various digital formats for reading on Kindle, Nook, Kobo and Apple devices.