Hope – so important for happiness and very much linked with being proactive and persevering too. It is a hugely powerful human asset and one we all possess to a greater or lesser degree…

“Hope means keeping going, thinking, ‘I can do this.’ It brings inner strength, self-confidence, the ability to do what you do honestly, truthfully and transparently.”
– Dalai Lama

We are naturally optimistic in many ways as we always “hope” that our plans, our intentions, our goals will turn out as we expect them to. And that doesn’t happen without positive action from us. Hope and productivity go hand-in-hand.  I suspect that on the days you get the most done you have a strong sense of what your goals are combined with the energy to accomplish what you want.

So just having hope that things will work out is not enough. Many people think of hope as an emotion but, in fact, it is a cognitive function strongly connected with setting goals. The three elements of hope include having goals (seeking out where you want to go), feeling empowered to shape your daily life, and identifying multiple avenues toward making your goals happen.  Working toward meaningful life goals is one of the most important strategies happy people use.

In this study, hope proved to be a strong predictor of satisfaction, leading the study’s authors to suggest that hope is a symptom of happiness.

You can develop your “hope muscle” too! Hopeful people share four core beliefs (Lopez, 2013):

  1. The future will be better than the present. Yes, this is a belief but also something you can train your brain to believe. Taking action towards goals, however small that step is, will help. So will practising gratitude.
  2. You have a say in how your life unfolds. This is about knowing and believing that you can be proactive in terms of how you choose to respond to circumstances, setbacks and things unexpected. You can also choose to pursue your dreams and goals and take action towards these.
  3. There are multiple pathways to achieving personal and professional goals. If one path does not work out, find another one. We often give up at the first hurdle instead of persevering.
  4. An acceptance of the fact that there will always be obstacles and to actively work out different approaches and different ways around them.

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