WOOP! Your Life

Written by an iTherapy Provider

WOOP! Your Life

WOOP! This is such an awesome concept! I have used it with a lot of clients and I use it myself every day since I learned it, and I will constantly talk about it in blogs. I’m hopefully going to break it down into something simple for you. (If you want a little longer version, visit: Brian Johnson’s podcast that breaks it down even further).

Health domain

Woop doubled regular physical exercise over a time period of four months and increased fruit and vegetable intake by 30% over the period of two years.
— Stadler, Oettingen, & Gollwitzer, 2009, 2010
Woop helped chronic pain patients to become more physically active during rehabilitation three months thereafter.
— Christiansen, Oettingen, Dahme, & Klinger, 2010
Woop helped patients suffering from Type II Diabetes to improve their self-care.
— Adriaanse, De Ridder, & Voorneman, 2013

Academic domain

Woop increased attendance and course grades of school children from disadvantaged backgrounds.
— Duckworth, Kirby, A. Gollwitzer, & Oettingen, 2013
Woop improved homework of children at risk for ADHD.
— Gawrilow, Morgenroth, Schultz, Oettingen, & Gollwitzer, 2013
Woop increased high school students’ effort to prepare for standardized tests by 60%.
— Duckworth, Grant, Loew, Oettingen, & Gollwitzer, 2011

Interpersonal domain

Woop reduced insecurity-based behaviors (e.g., looking through the partner’s phone log) and increased commitment in romantic relationships.
— Houssais, Oettingen, & Mayer, 2013
Woop lead to more integrative solutions and fairer behavior in bargaining games.
— Kirk, Oettingen, & Gollwitzer, 2013
Woop increased tolerance and social responsibility towards members of prejudiced groups.
— Oettingen, Mayer, Thorpe, Janetzke, & Lorenz, 2005

This concept is by Gabriele Oettingen, a well-known scientist that studied positive psychology under Martin Seligman. (Okay, get to the point, Michelle.)

WOOP stands for:

Wish: What do you want to see in your life personally or professionally? Imagine something challenging yet feasible you can achieve in a year, month, week or day.
Outcome: What is the #1 benefit you would experience as a result?
Obstacle: What obstacle *within you* stands in the way of achieving that wish? (Emphasis on“within you”!)
Plan: What can you do to get around that obstacle? What’s the #1 most effective thing you could do?

Gabriele found in her studies that when people only fantasize and dream about what they want, they were less motivated than those who did something called “mental contrasting”, which means, have the fantasy and dream, but also think of the obstacles stopping you.

This means, you have a dream (I want to lose 40 pounds) and contrast it with the reality of what stops you (I am lazy).

As a tool, WOOP is what psychologists call ‘content neutral,’ that is, it can be used to help with any kind of wish you might have, short term or long term, big or small. If you’re a professional, you can use it to reach a new milestone in your career, improve your skills—whatever you can think of. If you’re a student,you can apply it to study more productively. If you’re a mom or dad, you can apply it to handle challenging situations with your children more effectively. Anyone can use it in his or her personal life for any purpose—for instance, to form closer relationships with others or improve health.”

– Gabriele Oettingen

Long story short, she came up with the acronym WOOP that increases motivation, improves effectiveness, and increases success rates on anything you dream!

Let me give you an example of a year long WOOP I have:

Wish: I want to lose 40 pounds.
Outcome: I will feel energetic and look great!
Obstacle: I love sweets.
Plan (If…, then…): If I see something sweet, then I will drink a glass of water first.

How about a daily WOOP I have:

Wish: I want to walk the dogs for 30 minutes.
Outcome: The dogs and I will feel better.
Obstacle: I am tired when I get home from work.
Plan (If…, then…): If I know I’m going to get home late from work, then I will plan on taking them in the morning.

Or a weekly WOOP I have:

Wish: I want to work out 4 times this week.
Outcome: I will feel energetic and look great!
Obstacle: I am tired when I get home.
Plan (If…, then…): If I feel tired when I get home, then I will simply put my workout clothes on and see what happens.

This is just a tiny glimpse of how you can use WOOP. Maybe WOOP these things for yourself: