Before you begin with the WOOP exercise, please note that WOOP is different from other exercises: it focuses on thoughts and images rather than rational or effortful thinking. It requires going slow and creating time and space for thinking and imagining.

It is crucial that no interruptions occur during the exercise. Start your WOOP session when you feel calm and comfortable. This is your time. Everything else can wait. Clear your mind and create space to imagine.

That depends! It depends on how much of a WOOP expert you are, the type of wish you identify, how quickly you can emotionally connect to the future and the obstacle, and how focused you are on WOOP.

The more experienced you are with WOOP, the less time you may need. However, even WOOP experts sometimes take a while to identify their wish, outcome, obstacle, or plan. Be patient and take your time!

WOOP may take less time, if you have a clear, pressing wish and a familiar context. For important life decisions, give yourself time and make repeated attempts at WOOP. This way, you can delve deeper and discover new aspects of your wish, outcome, obstacle, and plan. For solving immediate problems, you might only need about 30 seconds to go through the four steps of WOOP. It is crucial to emotionally connect with your wish, outcome, and obstacle.

Use the timeframe that seems most applicable to your wish. Shorter timeframes allow you to WOOP wishes that improve your everyday life. They help you act right away. Longer timeframes will allow you to WOOP more substantial wishes that might impact your life deeply.

You can complete the WOOP exercise in writing, mentally, or by combining both methods. If you prefer it in writing, the easiest way is to download the template included in the WOOP kit, available at www.woopmylife.org. You can also use the WOOP kit for the mental approach. If you want to combine both methods, use the WOOP app. Whatever method works for you is fine. Just make sure to be specific when identifying your wish, outcome, obstacle, and plan.

Begin with the wish that is most important to you, the one that is closest to your heart. Keep in mind, this wish should be somewhat challenging but achievable.

Often, it’s the bigger wishes that ignite the most passion in us. If a wish feels too large, try breaking it down into several smaller wishes. Alternatively, focus on the obstacle and look for one that you can overcome.

It’s important to listen to that feeling. If you WOOP a wish that you don’t really care about, WOOP can help you uncover this. Find a wish that truly fits you! You can discover how much you care about a wish by identifying and imagining the best outcome. The imagery part is crucial! Take the time to imagine the best outcome. If you find that a wish doesn’t feel authentic, consider discarding it and embracing a new one.

Take your time! You can relax and be patient. Listen to what you feel inside. You don’t need to find a perfect wish. WOOP works equally well for small wishes. Just find a wish, where you feel excited to get going on it. Feel free to leave your comfort zone as long you feel the wish is in your range of action.

y is it critical to identify and imagine an outcome?

There are three reasons. First, it will help you understand if you found a fitting wish. If imagining the outcome excites you, you are on the right track. Second, imagining the outcome gives your action the direction. Third, imagining the outcome is critical for the non-conscious processes that ensure you act on your wish.

When identifying a wish, you may not know yet whether fulfilling the wish is truly exciting for you. Identifying the best outcome or the best feeling of fulfilling that wish will reveal how much you really care about fulfilling that wish and experiencing the outcome.

Not necessarily. It also can be a much-desired result or consequence. However, when people identify the feelings resulting from having realized their wish, they will clearly understand whether they truly care about fulfilling it.

Then it might be a good idea to revisit your wish. You might find an alternative wish that serves the same overarching purpose, adjust your wish to make it more exciting, or discover a completely new wish that feels closer to your heart than the original one.

There are three reasons. First, it will help to provide the energy for you to walk the cumbersome path to fulfilling your wish. Second, by identifying the obstacle and imagining its occurrence, you will discover creative ways to overcome it. Third, imagining the obstacle is crucial for the non-conscious processes that drive you to act on overcoming it and fulfilling your wish.

Remember, you’re searching for internal obstacles. When we search for obstacles within ourselves, we can find ones we can control and overcome. We often have limited power to change our environment. What we can change, however, is how we respond to and deal with our environment. Identify an internal obstacle that allows you to better respond to your environment. If you have trouble identifying an obstacle that feels surmountable, try breaking it down into several smaller, more manageable obstacles.

DescriptioBe honest with yourself. You can best sense what within you might be stopping you from fulfilling your wish. There may be several real obstacles. Finding one is enough for now. Feel free to dig a little deeper. Ask yourself “why is it” that, for example, “I feel tired, have no time, or lack motivation? In other situations, I do not feel that way." Finding a fitting obstacle might be emotional, allow it to happen. You will recognize a real inner obstacle when you feel “Yes! That inner obstacle is truly in my way!”.n text goes here

In rare cases, people may only identify external barriers rather than internal obstacles. External barriers, such as institutional contexts, employers, or significant others, are difficult to change. However, we can change ourselves! Consider how you relate to these external barriers. For example, are you disappointed with your institution, resentful towards your employer, or impatient with your significant others? Exploring these emotions in yourself might help you uncover your internal obstacle.

To prepare an effective “If… obstacle, then… I will action to overcome obstacle” Plan, we need to find a specific, effective action we can take or a specific, effective thought we can tell ourselves to overcome the obstacle. This action or thought is called “Action” and the “If… then…” Plan is called “Plan”.

There are two other types of “If… then…” Plans. First, the “If… opportunity, then… I will prevent obstacle from occurring” Plan. Second, the “If… opportunity, then… I will act to fulfill my wish” Plan. You can find more details about these plans in the WOOP kit, available for download at the woopmylife.org website.

Very specific! Your action should also be short and concise. To facilitate finding an action, think about where and when your obstacle will occur next. This afternoon? This evening? Over the weekend? Place yourself in the situation where and when your obstacle arises next and identify a specific and immediate action to take or thought you can tell yourself to successfully surmount your obstacle. Your action may be surprisingly simple!

Perhaps you will come up with several actions or thoughts to overcome your obstacle. To build your plan, take only one specific action or thought. Take the one that you feel will be most actionable and effective to surmount your obstacle. Thinking about when the obstacle might occur next will help you identify an action that is both feasible and effective. Formulate a concise, simple, and specific action or thought. Try your specified action. If the action turns out not to work well, you can always do another WOOP with a different action. 

One WOOP contains one plan. You can create more WOOPs for the same or similar wishes, but always follow the four steps in order: Wish, Outcome, Obstacle, Plan. WOOP provides the structure; you provide the content. The structure remains the same, but the content always changes. You are the expert of your life! Customize WOOP to your life. Play with it and become a WOOP expert.

Research shows that the benefits of WOOP are obtained after people go through all the steps of WOOP in one sitting. Instead of editing it, go through all four steps and create a new WOOP.

Once you have gone through the four steps "Wish, Outcome, Obstacle, and Plan", the WOOP process for this wish is complete. You do not have to repeat it. Review your WOOP using the WOOP review tool. If you are not happy with your WOOP, make a new one.

You can WOOP as often as you have wishes. Wishes emerge from our needs and needs constantly change. Obstacles come from our experiences and likely also change. Therefore, generate new WOOPs. Play with WOOP, build a WOOP routine, become a WOOP expert! When you have fulfilled your wish, the nonconscious processes that make WOOP effective disappear, they are not needed anymore. Thus, when you feel you have success or partial success in fulfilling your wish, do another WOOP so that you keep acting on fulfilling your wish on the longer run.

You can WOOP any wish you have, whether it is short-term or long-term, trivial or life-changing, pertaining only to yourself or to your relationships with others. You can use WOOP for wishes in all life domains: professional, academic, interpersonal, fitness, self-improvement, or any other domain. You can WOOP wishes alone, together with a trusted person, with your team, or any trusted group. You can use WOOP when you feel uneasy, nervous, or out of place and don’t know what to do next. When you WOOP wishes that are outside your scope of action, WOOP will help you discover this constraint and will show you how to adjust your wish, postpone it to a better point in time, or let go of it, freeing you up for more promising and feasible enterprises.

Incorporating WOOP into your daily routine can transform you into a WOOP expert, helping you organize your daily life and prepare for stressful situations. To cultivate this habit, consider linking it to an existing routine, such as making your morning coffee, commuting to work, or taking a lunch break. Alternatively, you can establish a WOOP habit from scratch by selecting a convenient time and quiet place in your daily schedule to WOOP. Setting a recurring reminder in your WOOP app can also assist in building a consistent WOOP routine.

Once you have established a WOOP habit, you will be longing for your WOOP exercise at the designated time and place. You will also get annoyed when you are interrupted in your WOOP routine. Such interruptions can occur, for example, when you go on vacation, are pressured in time or when any other changes of your daily life occur. It's important to resume your routine as soon as possible. WOOPing about how to maintain your daily WOOP practice can help you stay on track.

When we are stressed or worn out, we might feel too exhausted to go through a WOOP exercise. In these moments, be patient with yourself. Take your time to find a wish that resonates with you. Once you find that wish, you are almost there! Then, patiently go through the other three steps; you will see it is easier than you think. To maintain your WOOP routine during stressful times, WOOP the wish of getting back into your WOOP practice.

When we are stressed, we can be critical of ourselves and ruminate about our situation. WOOP helps us shift our focus outward rather than inward. WOOP is distinctly non-evaluative; it offers a perspective on the world, not a self-reflection. WOOP will guide you back into life.