The Reallife English Podcast

Gabriele Oettingen is a Professor of Psychology and author originally from Germany. She has been teaching at New York University and the University of Hamburg for more than 20 years. Her research focuses on the Science of Motivation and explains why positive thinking alone is not enough to achieve our goals. Upon more than 25 years of research, she developed a goal-achievement strategy called WOOP. WOOP stands for WISH, OUTCOME, OBSTACLE, and PLAN. This empirically based approach focuses on helping people connect to their biggest wishes, clarify the desired outcome, identify the obstacles that may stand in the way, and set a realistic plan in just ten minutes or less! I first heard about Gabriele's work three years ago, and I found it immensely helpful for setting goals. This time of year, many of us are thinking about what new objectives we want to achieve, so I was so thrilled to be able to get Gabriele on. With Gabriele's advice, you can make this the year that you actually achieve some of your deepest des