The Rubicon Model of Action Phases

According to the Rubicon Model there are four phases of goal pursuit:^​1,2​

• Pre-decision phase – deliberating and determining the feasibility and desirability of various wishes and goals, and then selecting one to pursue
  • Formation of goal intentions (the “Crossing of the Rubicon”)
• Post-decision or pre-action phase – strategizing and planning how to achieve the goal
  • Goal-Initiation [Task-Initiation]
• Action phase – acting and monitoring one’s actions to ensure they are completed
  • Task completion
• Post-action phase – evaluating whether or not the goal has been achieved, or if plans need to be adjusted or new ones made

“[This] model uses the metaphor of crossing the Rubicon to describe the turning of wishes (potential goals) into binding goals. Here the allusion is not so much to having gone beyond a point of no return as it is to putting incessant deliberation to a rest.”^​2​

These phases may overlap, or be missing all together.

Not all task initiation directly follows a pre-decision phase. For example, often tasks may just be continuing previously started or routine activities.^​2​ The phase of intense planning, too, may be missing, as it is generally needed only in more difficult, complicated, or unfamiliar situations.^​2​ 

However, people with executive dysfunction may need to consciously and deliberately work through each of these stages much more frequently than does the general population.

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