The best way to teach this 4-step model is by telling the greatest Michael Phelps story from the 2008 Beijing summer Olympics.
Phelps dove into the pool for the 200m Butterfly Final, took his first few strokes, and then, his goggles flooded – his hopes of his 10th gold medal seemed all but lost.
12 months earlier…
Phelps had a world-class trainer named Bow Bowman, and Bowman wanted Phelps to take time every day to visualize success. He told Phelps to close his eyes and imagine himself swimming in the Olympics, swimming a perfect race, and being a champion.
Phelps did this day in and day out, until one day he got bored of it. Without telling Bowman, Phelps changed his visualization practice. Instead of visualizing himself swimming the perfect race, he started visualizing how he could be a champion even when everything went wrong. He started to think of all the obstacles that could stand in his way and tried to mentally prepare for them.
Back to the race…
With his goggles flooded, Phelps had lost his vision. For any other swimmer in the race, it would have been over. Phelps, however, had imagined this exact scenario in his head. He knew it was possible something like this could happen, so he prepared for it by counting the exact number of strokes it took him to get to one side of the pool. This way, if he lost his sight, he would just keep count of his strokes.
Phelps not only won the gold medal, but he broke the world record.
Without knowing it, Phelps was using the #1 technique for achieving your goals called the WOOP method. It was created by Gabrielle Oettingen – a german academic and psychologist.
The WOOP 4-step exercise.
W (Wish)
The W stands for Wish. This is where you write down and visualize your goal. It can be a big goal like finding a job you love, meeting a new romantic partner, or buying a house. It can also be a small goal like having a great day, building a new health habit, or making more time for friends.
O (Outcome)
The O stands for Outcome. The outcome taps into our reasons behind the wish. How would you feel if this wish came true? What kinds of emotions would you be feeling? What would this add to your life that you don’t already have? Why is this wish really important to you?
Take 1-2 minutes and really feel this. Feel what it would be like to accomplish this goal.
O (Obstacles)
The second O stands for Obstacles. Most people never make it to this step. They visualize success, think positively, and attack their goals, but when obstacles get in their way, they don’t know what to do. They lose their positive spirit. They quit.
This phase makes sure nothing gets in the way of our goals. This phase will help us keep swimming when our goggles fall off.
Depending on how big or small the goal is, take sufficient time to list out all the obstacles that could stand in your way. Sometimes obstacles come from our own heads. There can be a lack of motivation, excuses we often make, or our emotional reaction to situations. Sometimes obstacles will be external – a coworker who is hard to work with, a lack of resources, or an injury.
As it pertains to the goal, what are the biggest obstacles that could get in the way? It’s hard to imagine all possible obstacles, but it’s easy to get a solid list of the ones with the highest possibility.
P (Plan)
Finally, the P stands for Plan. This is an “if, then” plan. If the obstacle occurs, what is the immediate reaction? For Phelps, his was “if my goggles fall off, then I will count my number of strokes to the wall.” For someone else, it might be “if I want to hit the snooze button, then I will take 5 deep breaths and stand up.” Or, it might be “if I don’t feel motivated to work on building my business, then I will take my business card out of my wallet and reread my mission statement to remind myself why I am doing it.
Whatever it is, the idea is getting excellent at creating plans for obstacles.
In closing …
This 4-step WOOP method combines goal setting, positive visualization, and a plan for the obstacles that stand in the way. Once it is practiced and becomes a skill, it is an effective tool for never letting obstacles get in the way of the small, big, and mighty goals someone has for their life.
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