Build a concrete Will commitment

Convert the chosen option into a specific next action with a date, and ask "what will you do?" not "what will you try?"

Why it works

The difference between "I will try to..." and "I will..." is not semantic — it reflects a fundamentally different psychological commitment. A specific, time-bounded action is an implementation intention: research shows these dramatically outperform vague intentions for actual follow-through. The Will stage is where insight converts to commitment, and this conversion is only as strong as its specificity.

How to do it

1. Ask: "What will you do? By when? On a scale of 1–10, how committed are you?"
2. If the commitment score is below 7, ask: "What would need to be different to raise it to a 7 or above?"
3. Get the action stated as "I will [specific act] by [specific date]" — not "I’ll think about it."
4. Ask what obstacles might arise and what they will do if those obstacles appear.

Evidence

Implementation intentions — specifying what, when, and how — show robust positive effects on goal attainment in a large body of experimental research. (rct)

The commitment-scaling question (1–10) is a practitioner tool; using a low score to renegotiate the action is clinical practice rather than a separately trialed step.

Sources

• Gollwitzer & Sheeran (2006), implementation intentions meta-analysis, Advances in Experimental Social Psychology

Common mistake

Accepting "I’ll try to get to it this week" as a commitment — which is a polite way of saying there is no real plan. Push for a specific action and a specific day.