Mental Contrasting

When it comes to self-improvement, there’s lots of approaches out there. The majority of which will focus on; positive thinking, goal setting and reflective practice. These all play their part, however personally, I’ve found they maybe just lack the real sharpness to take me from mediocrity to distinct, consistent success. There is also research to suggest that indulging yourself in the wholly positive ‘blue-sky’ thinking (Oettingen et al., 2010), impedes your progress. You can become complacent and relax as you bask in your thoughts of success.

If positive thinking alone can potentially jeopardise our progress, what is the opposite? Well that would be thinking about the present, the negatives and the reality. Where are you actually at? This reflection causes a realisation of what needs to be done. It spurs you into action. Ultimately if you are going to reach that goal or dream, you’ve a few obstacles to overcome firstly. This is known as ‘Mental contrasting’. Contrasting your future dreams with the present reality, as the name suggests (Oettingen et al., 2009).

It kind of makes sense why this would work, it’s creating a greater personal accountability for your journey. Of course things won’t just happen for you, it’s down to you to make the change. Without adding fuel to the flames, ‘Generation Z’ folks are sometimes accused of being lazy and self-entitled, would you agree or disagree? When you uncover the hard work required for whatever goal you aspire to, do you shy away or roll your sleeves up?

Now, if you’re still not sold on mental contrasting, you might think it a little too crude and question it’s effectiveness? We can expand on this to make it more sophisticated. The psychologist behind mental contrasting, a lady named Gabrielle Oettingen, took the concept further; Mental contrasting with implementation intentions. Essentially, now you’ve done your mental contrasting bit, how are you going implement and make your intentions stick? The how refers to what is your plan or approach. To make this plan super explicit, clear and easy to follow, think of it as an “IF-THEN” plan (Oettingen, Wittchen and Gollwitzer 2013). “If” {insert your obstacle here} arises, “then” I will {insert your proposed action here}.

Gabrielle Oettingen had the foresight to consider that ‘Mental contrasting with implementations’ isn’t the catchiest of names for a strategy. Instead, she developed a handy acronym ‘WOOP’. Which stands for Wish-Obstacle-Outcome-Plan. If you’ve been following along so far and mental contrasting is resonating with you, have a go at putting WOOP into action.

Wish- Pick a timeframe; 24 hours/2 weeks/4 weeks/6 months/12 months/any. Think about that timeframe and think about a wish you would like to fulfil. It needs to be feasible and realistic but should definitely be a stretch and a challenge for you.

Outcome- What would be the best outcome of you fulfilling this wish? How would you feel? Any secondary benefits to achieving this wish? Now put 60 seconds on the clock and really focus on imagining this outcome as vividly as possible. Once you’ve done this, move onto the next step.

Obstacle- What is holding you back from achieving this wish? What external obstacles exisit that might interfere with you fulfilling this wish? What inner obstacles do you throw up that could prevent you fulfilling this wish? Do you have any typical behaviours or thoughts that might impede your progress with this wish? Now put 60 seconds on the clock and really focus your attention on the main obstacle for this time. Once you’ve done this, move onto the next step.

Plan- Now you’ve identified your obstacle, what can you do about it? How can you overcome this obstacle? Can you identify an action that would help you overcome this obstacle? Put 60 seconds on the clock and concentrate your thoughts on this action. Now proceed to make an ‘If-Then’ plan.

If {your obstacle} occurs, then I will {your action to overcome the obstacle}

Repeat to yourself again…

If {your obstacle} occurs, then I will {your action to overcome the obstacle}

There, you’ve just done your first WOOP! How was it? How are you feeling about your situation now?

Hopefully you’re feeling a little happier about things. Perhaps acknowledging that obstacles will inevitably feature on your journey has allowed you to reflect on how much you really want something, spurred you on to do what it takes to make your dreams happen!

Don’t worry if you don’t and you’re still a little lost, that’s a possibility too. Remember this is just your first time doing a WOOP. Like all skills, they take practice and repetition. Definitely don’t beat yourself up, instead be kind to yourself, your mind is more likely to be relaxed and accepting of new ideas if you are.

The beauty of WOOP and mental contrasting is that it can be utilised for many different situations in life. If you are thinking about your career aspirations, sporting endeavours, work problems, family problems or just completing your daily to-do list, WOOP can help focus your efforts and bolster your resilience against the many barriers that you are inevitably going to encounter. So if you’re fed up with drifting along and want a strategy with a bit more substance to help you overcome problems and achieve your goals remember, you just need to WOOP.

References

1. Oettingen, G., Mayer, D. and Brinkmann, B., 2010. Mental contrasting of future and reality: Managing the demands of everyday life in health care professionals. Journal of Personnel Psychology, 9(3), p.138.

2. Oettingen, G., Mayer, D., Timur Sevincer, A., Stephens, E.J., Pak, H.J. and Hagenah, M., 2009. Mental contrasting and goal commitment: The mediating role of energization. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 35(5), pp.608-622.

3. Oettingen, G., Wittchen, M., & Gollwitzer, P. M. (2013). Regulating goal pursuit through mental contrasting with implementation intentions. In E. A. Locke & G. P. Latham (Eds.), New developments in goal setting and task performance (pp. 523–548). Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group.