Are you snoozing on your goals?

“If you want to take action toward a desired future, then be sure to choose wishes that are challenging but still attainable for you.”

Gabriele Oettingen

What is a goal?

A goal is an idea of the future or desired result that a person or a group of people envision, plan and commit to achieve. People endeavour to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines¹.

What is Goal Setting & goal theory ?

Goal setting is a powerful motivator, it’s value of which has been recognized by many clinical and real-world settings for over the last 35 years.

Goal theory is an overall approach to motivation that emphasizes the need to establish goals as intrinsic motivation. A relationship exists between goal difficulty, level of performance, and effort involved.²

In 1960’s, Edwin Locke put forward the Goal-setting theory of motivation. This theory states that goal setting is essentially linked to task performance/outcomes. It states that specific and challenging goals along with appropriate feedback contribute to higher and better task performance.³

Setting goals gives you long-term vision and short-term motivation . It focuses on what you want to achieve out of your life, and helps you to organise your time and your resources so that you can achieve those goals, and make the most of your life.

How can we use day-dreaming , or visualizations to our benefit in goal planning?

Visualisations involves envisioning yourself achieving your goal. To do this, you almost ‘dream while awake’ – creating a detailed mental image of the desired outcome using all of your senses- as if it was actually happening in the present moment.

Very similar visualisation techniques are used in Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) where we guide our client to visually imagine a vision of their ideal future and then guide & aid them to make that future a reality through strategic and actionable goal planning.

So how does this help?

When you initially start off with a clearer picture of what you want , you would visualise what you want for yourself , document it , and then steer yourself towards that goal.

Most people do not think about their goals or where they are headed or they may let others dictate where they should aim and which goals that they should work towards.

Sometimes goals change we need to keep in mind that there will be certain obstacles and to change and plan accordingly.

Make time for goal setting, there is no time like now to focus on what you want and to start working towards those goals.

Today, I will be sharing a powerful and scientifically proven goal setting technique that move you towards action and not just dreams. That technique is called WOOP.

What is WOOP?

WOOP was developed by Gabriele Oettingen’s, it is a scientifically Validated Dream-Realization Technique and part of her work spanning over 20 years. This specific technique, is known as a form of Mental Contrasting, which is Moving From Dreams to Action.⁴

Since dreaming alone is not enough to help people actualize their potential, Oettingen moved onto a new hypothesis, which she dubbed “Mental Contrasting.”⁵

“The solution isn’t to do away with dreaming and positive thinking. Rather, it’s making the most of our fantasies by brushing them up against the very thing most of us are taught to ignore or diminish: the obstacles that stand in our way.”  ~ Gabriele Oettingen

Mental Contrasting + Implementation Intentions = WOOP!

An individual can use WOOP by sitting in a quiet area for 5 minutes to plan for the day/month/week or early goals.

Scientific evidence & research of using the WOOP method:

WOOP helps people to be healthier:

WOOP helps people to improve their social behavior:

You can read more about the Woop method on the Woop my life website

How Often Should We Review Goals?

Once your goals are set, it is important to revisit and reassess them. Reviewing goals affords the opportunity to assess progress and to ensure they are still relevant. There is no limit to how often you should review your goals, they could change weekly, monthly or even daily. As long as you are working towards your vision for yourself then that is what matters.

Remember that your WISH must be feasible goal (or a SMART goal) and that you need to have defined the best OUTCOME for yourself. In life coaching we base our belief than no goal is unachievable, we don’t conform to any limitations and we guide our clients on that assumption.

The method can help you also look out for possible challenges by looking out for any Obstacle(s) – (even though sometime that obstacle may even be YOU ) and plan for contingencies using the Plan – planning for what if scenario’s ‘if this happens then I will do x’ . Constantly realigning and changing your goal planning as you go along is a healthy part of successful goal planning. Remember to set realistic goals and to measure effectively and to always set a celebration for yourself when you accomplish a goal, no matter how big or small! You must celebrate!

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