Obstacles and WOOP

WOOP stands for Wish, Outcome, Obstacle, Plan, and it comes from Gabriele Oettingen’s research. You picture what you want, name what inside you gets in the way, and write a rule for the moment it happens.

What it asks you

  1. Wish. Pick an area of your wheel from the list, with its score beside it. Then write the picture in the present tense.
  2. Outcome. Write what you get out of it.
  3. Obstacle. Name the thing inside you that gets in the way, like a habit or the time of day you always do the other thing.
  4. Plan. Fill in both halves: if X happens, then I do Y. Pick a moment you’ll recognise, like reaching for the phone before the kettle.

The longer read on this one is The WOOP method in four steps.

On paper