--- title: How to Train Your Brain to Achieve Any Goal description: Think of your brain like a computer canonical: https://time.com/4506510/productivity-advice-brain-training/ author: Business Insider article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-09-23T21:59:03.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T09:03:26.987Z og:title: How to Train Your Brain to Achieve Any Goal og:description: Think of your brain like a computer og:url: https://time.com/4506510/productivity-advice-brain-training/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2919b1cebbda0cea/69889907f887dc4e95e9659b/productivity.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3001 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Motto stock og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How to Train Your Brain to Achieve Any Goal twitter:description: Think of your brain like a computer twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2919b1cebbda0cea/69889907f887dc4e95e9659b/productivity.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How to Train Your Brain to Achieve Any Goal > Sponsored content. 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Worth Your Time is TIME's culture recommendation newsletter, edited by culture editor Eliza Berman. Each week it surfaces the books, shows, films and ideas TIME's editors think are worth your attention, and explains why. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Does TIME have a culture newsletter? Yes. Worth Your Time is TIME's culture newsletter, published weekly. #### Who writes TIME's culture recommendations? Culture editor Eliza Berman writes Worth Your Time, drawing on TIME's critics and culture desk. #### Is Worth Your Time free? Yes. It is a free newsletter available at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-worth-2026q3/newsletters?i=339e53b4-a1fe-4411-832a-cbd6d27b3253&cr=time-nl-worth-2026q3-v1) by [Shana Lebowitz/Business Insider](https://time.com/author/business-insider/) ## Shana Lebowitz/Business Insider Sep 23, 2016 9:59 PM UTC  Martin Gee for TIME by [Shana Lebowitz/Business Insider](https://time.com/author/business-insider/) ## Shana Lebowitz/Business Insider Sep 23, 2016 9:59 PM UTC Of the possible metaphors for human cognition, a computer is not the most flattering. But sometimes it’s the most accurate: If you plug in the right information, you’ll see the desired results. At least, that’s what the psychologist Robert Cialdini suggests in “[Pre-Suasion](https://www.amazon.com/Pre-Suasion-Revolutionary-Way-Influence-Persuade/dp/1501109790/ref=tmm%5Fhrd%5Fswatch%5F0?%5Fencoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=&tag=bisafetynet-20),” a new book that’s partly about getting others to do what you want and partly about getting _you_ to do what you want. One example of the latter is “**if/when-then plans**,” a strategy that can help you [achieve your goals](http://www.businessinsider.com/stanford-professor-design-thinking-achieve-your-goals-2016-2), and that requires you to see your brain as remarkably similarly to the device on which you’re reading these words. **_Business Insider:_**[_A Psychologist Says Your Grandparents Already Know a Key Secret to Happiness_](http://www.businessinsider.com/pay-attention-to-positive-things-to-be-happier-2016-9) Here’s how it works. You pick a cue: a specific time or place. Then you pick a desirable action that you can link to that cue. So if you want to lose weight, Cialdini says your plan would be: “_If/when_, after my business lunches, the server asks if I’d like to have dessert, _then_ I will order mint tea.” Psychologists have [known about this tool](http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0065260106380021) for a while now. Research suggests that people who use if/when-then planning are between two and three times [more likely to achieve their goals](https://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/201101/the-science-success-the-if-then-solution) — whether they’re related to weight loss, fitness, or work and productivity —than those who don’t. **_Business Insider:_**[_This Simple Work Hack Will Make You More Productive_](http://www.businessinsider.com/robert-cialdini-influence-motivation-productive-hack-2016-9) Cialdini offers a fresh take on why the strategy works: “We become prepared, first, to _notice_ the favorable time or circumstance and, second, to _associate_ it automatically and directly with desired conduct.” He explains that a computer program typically contains links that launch with one click because they have been readied, or hyperlinked, to the information you want. Web browser engineers call the hyperlinking process “prefetching.” **_Business Insider:_**[_A Psychologist Says A Small Tweak to the Questions You Ask Your Boss Can Make Them Think Better Of You_](http://www.businessinsider.com/robert-cialdini-ask-your-boss-for-their-advice-instead-of-opinion-2016-9) You can set up a similar system in your brain, so that the result is a healthy behavior. Cialdini writes: “These goals exist as prefetched sources of information and direction that have been placed on standby, waiting to be launched into operation by cues that remind us of them.” In other words, the click is the cue: the waiter asking whether you’d like dessert. A direct link has already been made between the waiter’s question and your response. The information that appears on the screen is your answer: “I’ll have mint tea, please.” **_Business Insider:_**[_Here’s Why You Feel So Busy All the Time_](http://www.businessinsider.com/technology-makes-us-feel-too-busy-2016-9) By treating yourself like a computer, you make the process of achieving your goals a whole lot easier. Instead of having an internal debate over whether you’ll order tea or a cookie _every single time_ the waiter comes over, you’ve got an automatic response that fits with your long-term goals. **_Business Insider:_**[_7 Rules Confident People Always Follow_](http://www.businessinsider.com/rules-confident-people-always-follow-9-2016) “Especially for goals we are highly committed to reaching,” Cialdini says, “we’d be foolish not to take advantage of the pre-suasive leverage that if/when-then plans can provide.” _This_ [_article_](http://www.businessinsider.com/robert-cialdini-if-when-then-planning-helps-you-achieve-your-goals-2016-9) _originally appeared on_ [_Business Insider_](http://www.businessinsider.com/)_._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4506510/productivity-advice-brain-training/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4506510/productivity-advice-brain-training/"},"headline":"How to Train Your Brain to Achieve Any Goal","datePublished":"2016-09-23T21:59:03.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:03:26.987Z","description":"Think of your brain like a computer","url":"https://time.com/4506510/productivity-advice-brain-training/","keywords":["motto"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2919b1cebbda0cea/69889907f887dc4e95e9659b/productivity.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Shana Lebowitz/Business Insider"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2919b1cebbda0cea/69889907f887dc4e95e9659b/productivity.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Motto stock","caption":"productivity Motto stock","creditText":"Martin Gee for TIME","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/motto/","name":"motto"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4506510/productivity-advice-brain-training/","name":"How to Train Your Brain to Achieve Any Goal"}}]}] ```