WOOP! There it is!
Whew! 2020 is (finally) nearing to a close.
While flipping the calendar doesn’t necessarily change what we’re facing, the optimism and hope that new beginnings bring is worth raising a glass to. 🥂 Learning from the past is a powerful way to embrace the future, and my secret sentimental side will be Auld Lang Syne-ing my bum straight into the New Year.
Last week, we talked about how it’s okay to look back admit when times have been tough and why having self-compassion is so, so important.
This week, we’re talking about how it’s okay to look forward with optimism—so long as it’s rooted in reality. Because being bold isn’t about being reckless. It’s about owning and leveraging the best of you. So let’s pop this cork, shall we?
With the end of one year comes the inevitable onslaught of people resolving to be better in the next. Some standby resolutions include: drink more water (wine has water in it, right?), lose ten pounds, spend less time doom-scrolling, spend more time kitten-scrolling, etc. Then there are the biggies like: launch my podcast, move across the world to my dream city, scale my business, buy a pet goat (a big responsibility, I’m told).
I’m a coach. It’s my job to help introverts dream big, raise hell, and go after what they want—come hell or high water. Goals are critical in this. Yet if my clients made a resolution and I just said, “Okay, go do that then,” I’d be a terrible coach. Most likely (and rightfully) I’d also be out of a job. Setting a resolution and hoping for the best is not how being bold works. That is magical thinking.
I’m also not a spin-instructor-with-anger-issues kind of coach. I don’t yell things like, “Pain is just fear leaving the body!” while whipping my ponytail around like a helicopter about to take off—because that’s some weird, toxic bullshit. Bold introvert coaching may not be fluffy clouds and rainbows all the time, but it’s not boot camp either. It’s learning who you are, identifying your strengths, and tap-dancing them up and down your life. It’s strategy.
Strategy is what this post is about. Specifically, a strategy that I use with many clients called WOOP.
From personal experience I can guarantee you will start singing Tag Team every time you discuss WOOP. (And, yes, I know it’s technically “whoomp.”)
WOOP is a strategy rooted in research around motivation and success—two rather important elements of taking bold leaps forward. It’s an acronym that stands for Wish, Outcome, Obstacle, and Plan.
The Plan part is my slow jam. Whisper “let’s make a plan” in my ear and it’s bow-chicka-wow-wow time. 🔥
The Plan is what separates a growth mindset from a magical thinking one. It's the reason why I find the Law of Attraction about as useful as decaf coffee. It has good intentions, but its delivery is the equivalent of sipping on an old sock. (I could have chosen a racier analogy here, but my Mom reads this blog so I have a max limit on innuendo. My WOOP goal for 2021 is to fail to abide by that limit. #spicynewyear #sorrymom)
SO HOW DOES WOOP WORK?
Much like the aforementioned Law of Attraction, you start with the dreaming big part. You define your Wish. Knowing what you want is the first step in getting it. However, if you don’t know your “big” wants yet, don’t sweat it. Start small and go from there.
Next, you picture the best possible Outcome of that Wish.
This is the step where we break up with magical thinking and marry optimism with realism. The key here is to forget about the overnight success stories you’ve read about and picture an Outcome that stretches you but is still attainable in reality.
Being realistic doesn’t neuter your potential. It makes it more likely that you’ll actually succeed in your aims and not be demoralized when, in December 2021, you’re not sailing to your private island on a yacht piloted by a shiny, hunky guy named Enrique (that’s a January 2022 goal at the earliest).
Okay. Wish, then Outcome. Got it? Great.
We deviate from the traditional visioning process yet again in step three—because here we consider the Obstacles.
Many woo-woo thinkers of the world (lord love ‘em) would surely protest this step. Thou mustn’t ponder poorly upon the object of thine desire, lest thee sully thy Wish! I don’t know why these metaphorical woo-woos speak Elizabethan English, but just roll with me… They’d argue that if you don’t manifest your Wish, it’s because you didn’t keep your thoughts pure enough.
That, dear friend, is a load of shite covered in hot garbage. Buying into that line of thinking is where dreams go to die.
When you stop to consider the Obstacles that will get in the way of getting the best possible Outcome, you stop handing over your fate to “The Universe." Autonomy and agency are the biggest, baddest bananas you have. Do not give them away.
When you have your Wish and your ideal Outcome, and you know the Obstacles, THEN you can go get your freak on with the Plan.
What are you going to do if/when the Obstacle jumps in your way?
I tell you what you’re not going to do. You’re not going to Wish harder.
You’re going to go toe-to-toe with the Obstacle, execute the Plan you have for it, and keep going. That’s what being a Majestic Beast Bold Introvert looks like.
The simplest way to create the Plan is to define: if Obstacle, then Plan. Do this, and you won’t be walking into your goal/day/project blind. You’ll already know If this Obstacle arises, I will execute this Plan.
It seems crazy simple but it’s shocking how rarely we actually do it with intention. We operate under an I’ll-cross-that-bridge-when-I-get-to-it mentality. Then an Obstacle that’s a mere bump in the road with a Plan ends up blowing out all four tires without one.
WOOP is a research-back process that delivers the goods. In practice it can help you navigate everything from first date nerves, to sticking to your new wellness routine, to scaling your business, to baby goat adoption.
WHEN YOU START RAISING HELL AS AN INTROVERT, THE RESULTS ARE EXPONENTIAL.
Every time you prove to yourself that you’re capable of something you were unsure about yesterday, you light your badass up to tackle the next thing tomorrow. This is why I like WOOP so much. It offers a systematic framework for getting from where you are to where you want to be. And the only thing that gets my motor running faster than a plan is a system.
Luckily for us, the minds behind WOOP systematized the system. *Cue the Barry White music* They created a WOOP app that walks you through all four steps and is simple to use every day. You can check it out for yourself here.*
Here’s a final WOOP pro tip: When you start using it, start small. You don’t have to use it on your holy-moly goals right out of the gate. Try it with a one-off goal for the day. Then build up from there.
I LOVE hearing about the things bold introverts are cooking up, so this is the part where you can share the asses you’ll be WOOPing in 2021! Drop me a line and let me know!
Happy New Year, you magnificent beast!
*This is not a sponsored or affiliate post. I just like telling rad people about rad stuff.