Do you WOOP?

Happy 2018! If you’re like me, you’re excited to have a clean slate of opportunity to focus on as the New Year begins. Part of my eagerness is tied to creating fresh goals to work toward. Dr. Gabriele Oettingen, professor of psychology at New York University, developed this process for identifying and achieving motivating aims that make you WOOP with anticipation: W – Wish: What is an important wish you want to accomplish, and over what time period? Choose a goal that is meaningful, challenging, and feasible. Oettingen suggests keeping your answer to this question brief, a maximum of 6...

Driving around town after our recent spring snowstorm, I noticed that areas west of College Avenue seemed much harder hit than those east of it—more fallen branches and remaining drifts. I mentioned it to my husband. “That’s the difference one degree can make,” he explained. Closer to the foothills the slightly-colder weather caused more snow to freeze on branches, resulting in more weight and breakage. Just a single degree created that much difference. It got me thinking, how many one-degree shifts were driving positive…and negative…shifts in my own life? “Shift” has been my theme for...