WOOP: A technique to achieve your goals

Mar 3

Written By Len Madigan MBA, ACC, LEAD FOR IMPACT MENTOR

Achieve your goals using WOOP (you read that right)!

Dreaming big is good, but German psychologist Gabriele Oettingen says thinking about these big dreams can seduce us into feeling that we’ve already accomplished them, and thereby reduce our motivation.

Instead, set your sights on smaller goals by using WOOP, a science-based mental motivation approach to achieving goals.

Its framework has four main parts: Wish, Outcome, Obstacle, Plan (WOOP).

Based on 20 years of scientific research, WOOP has been shown to be effective with people of all ages and areas of life.

The key takeaway: The obstacles that we think most impede us from fulfilling our wishes can in fact help us to realize them.

Here’s an example of how it works.

Wish
▪️ Choose a domain for your wish (professional, health or interpersonal).
▪️ What is the timeframe for fulfilling your wish?
▪️ What is your most important wish or concern - challenging but can be fulfilled (3-6 words).
🎯 W: To produce 3 blog articles in the next month.

Outcome
▪️ What would be the best thing about fulfilling your wish?
▪️ How would fulfilling your wish make you feel?
🎯 O: Note your best outcome in 3-6 words: Inform people via my website for years.
▪️ Why would it be so deeply important to you?
▪️ Take a moment to fully imagine the outcome.

Obstacle
▪️ What is within you that holds you back from fulfilling your wish?
🎯 O: Lack confidence that the article will be helpful.

Plan
▪️ Name one action you can take or one thought you can think to overcome your obstacle.
▪️ Make an if-then plan. If <obstacle> then I will <thought or action>.
🎯 P: Action: If I lack confidence that the article will be helpful then I will email a draft to a contact to get feedback.

Summarize your WOOP

🎯 W: To produce 3 blog articles in the next month.
🎯 W: Inform people via my website for years
🎯 O: Lack confidence that the article will be helpful.
🎯 P: If I lack confidence that the article will be helpful then I will email a draft to a contact to get feedback

It turns out the key to WOOP is the “contrasting” we do between imagining the outcome and identifying the obstacle.

Interested in learning more about my tips and tools for business? A better way of working is just an email away. Reach out at len.madigan.coaching@gmail.com

Len Madigan MBA, ACC, LEAD FOR IMPACT MENTOR

Len has more than two decades of experience as a leader and entrepreneur in technology, sales and business consulting.

In his corporate career, Len led teams in North America, Europe, and Asia. As VP, Professional Services at OZ Communications and General Manager of Operator Messaging at Nokia, Len led the businesses through periods of rapid growth and has a wealth of experience in mergers and acquisitions, having been a key leader in three M&A activities.

As founder of Bolti Systems, Len helped software companies define their SaaS strategy and migrate their businesses to the cloud from a business and operations perspective.

As a bilingual Leadership Coach and Mentor, Len now champions change and evolution with his clients in English and French.

Len is a certified coach (ACC) and holds a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science from Concordia University and an MBA from McGill University with a specialization in Finance and Strategy.

https://lmprofessionalcoaching.com/

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