Peer-led goal-setting encourages healthy habits

The recently published study in Health Education & Behavior by Wittleder and colleagues (2025) demonstrates the promising potential of WOOP (Wish, Outcome, Obstacle, Plan) as an innovative goal-setting strategy that can be effectively delivered by peer mentors in college settings. While the study focused on reducing problematic drinking, its implications extend to any healthy habits!

The study examined WOOP’s effectiveness when delivered by student “lay coaches” – peers without clinical training who could relate to and connect with participants in a supportive, non-judgmental way. The researchers randomly assigned 86 college-aged participants to either learn the four-step WOOP strategy or a control version. In the WOOP intervention, participants identified a specific wish, imagined the best outcome, identified internal obstacles, and created an if-then plan to overcome those obstacles.

The results were encouraging across multiple measures. The WOOP intervention proved feasible to implement, with participants completing an average of 11 out of 14 daily practice diaries. Even two months after the initial session, participants continued using the strategy 1-2 times per week, suggesting its sustainability as a goal-pursuit tool.

What makes these findings particularly compelling for mentoring programs is the study’s success with peer-delivered intervention. Only about 4% of behavioral interventions have previously been delivered by lay coaches, yet this approach showed strong promise. The peer delivery model creates comfortable spaces for goal-setting conversations while keeping implementation costs low.

For mentoring programs, these findings suggest that WOOP offers a structured, evidence-based approach that can be readily integrated into existing frameworks. The strategy’s versatility allows it to be applied across various domains – from academic goals and career planning to personal development and health behaviors. Its simplicity makes it easy for mentors to learn and teach, while its effectiveness stems from helping mentees connect their aspirations with concrete action plans.

The study demonstrates that peer mentors can be effectively trained to guide others through the WOOP process with relatively minimal training (10-15 hours). This scalability makes it particularly attractive for mentoring programs looking to equip their mentors with practical tools for supporting goal pursuit.

Perhaps most importantly, WOOP respects young people’s preference for autonomy while providing a framework for meaningful mentor support. Once learned, mentees can apply the strategy independently to any goal they wish to pursue, with mentors serving as supportive guides rather than directors of the process.

This research suggests that setting goals within a technology platform – plus mentor support – offers a scalable, cost-effective approach to helping young people regulate their goal pursuit. The strategy’s simplicity and effectiveness, combined with its peer-delivery model, make it a valuable addition to any mentoring program’s toolkit. If you’re curious how your program’s mentors can make the most out of supporting your program’s mentees, enroll your mentors in MentorPRO Academy’s Supportive Accountability course today!

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