think-woop

name	think-woop
description	Produces a WOOP commitment card by working through Wish, Outcome, Obstacle, and Plan - contrasting the desired outcome against the main internal obstacle and binding an if-then response to it. Use when a goal is already chosen but follow-through keeps failing, or to close the gap between intention and action.
license	Apache-2.0
metadata	{"id":"thinking-framework-skills.woop","family":"risk-and-resilience","evidence-tier":"S","version":"0.1.0","standard":"0.8"}

WOOP (Mental Contrasting with Implementation Intentions)

A decided goal often dies in the gap between intention and action. WOOP closes it with two evidence-backed moves: contrast the desired outcome against the obstacle in your way, then pre-bind an if-then response. Wish (specific, challenging, feasible), Outcome (vividly imagine the best result), Obstacle (the main internal obstacle in yourself), Plan (if [obstacle or its cue], then [action]). The output is a WOOP card. Critical: imagining the outcome without contrasting the obstacle measurably reduces follow-through - the obstacle and the if-then plan are mandatory, not decoration.

When to Use

• A goal is already chosen and feasible, but follow-through keeps failing.
• Closing a personal or single-owner intention-action gap.
• Turning a commitment into something that survives the moment of temptation or friction.

When NOT to Use

• To decide what to pursue (use a decision skill); WOOP commits to an already-chosen wish.
• For multi-person project planning (it is about one actor's follow-through).
• When the obstacle is an external blocker outside your control (WOOP works on internal obstacles).
• As motivational positive-outcome talk: outcome-only, without the obstacle, backfires.

Instructions

When asked to run WOOP, follow these steps:

1. Wish. State the goal in one line. It should be specific, challenging, and genuinely feasible. If it is not feasible, say so - WOOP will surface disengagement, and that is honest, not a failure.
2. Outcome. Name the single best result of fulfilling the wish, vividly and concretely. One line.
3. Obstacle. Identify the main internal obstacle in yourself that stands in the way (a habit, fear, impulse, avoidance), not an external blocker. This is the step that does the work; do not skip it.
4. Plan. Write one or more if-then statements: "If [obstacle or the situation that triggers it], then I will [specific, doable action]." Make the action concrete enough to execute without deciding again.
5. Emit the WOOP card per references/TEMPLATE.md.

Output Format

Use the template in references/TEMPLATE.md. The deliverable is the four-part card with a concrete if-then plan, not prose or a pep talk.

Quality Checklist

Before finalizing, verify:

• The Wish is specific, challenging, and feasible (or infeasibility is named honestly).
• The Obstacle is internal and controllable, not an external blocker.
• The Plan is a concrete if-then statement, not a vague intention.
• The obstacle step is present (outcome-only is rejected because it backfires).
• The output is the WOOP card artifact, not a motivational essay.

Evidence

Tier S. Mental contrasting with implementation intentions improves goal attainment across 25+ randomized controlled trials in health, academic, and work domains (Oettingen; Gollwitzer; Wang et al. 2021 meta-analysis) - among the best-evidenced behavior-change methods. Note the honest inversion: positive outcome fantasy without the obstacle reduces follow-through, so the obstacle and if-then plan are mandatory. The evidence is for humans doing WOOP on their own goals, transferred to AI use, not AI-validated. Full grading: evidence/dossier.md.

Examples

See references/EXAMPLE.md for a completed WOOP card.