Hope expands your thinking and fuels your persistence. Research on hope shows that how you think about the future determines your success in work, relationships and life. For example, high levels of hope lead to an increase in positive workplace outcomes and increased happiness. Making a direct connection between your goals and your current behaviours also positively affects effort and commitment. Research has found that hope requires three elements:
1. Goals. Develop clear goals that fill your mind with a positive vision for the future.
2. Pathway thinking. Seek out and identify multiple pathways to achieve your goal.
3. Agency. Motivate yourself to be persistent when you face obstacles.
Hope plays a central role in setting goals, driving persistence, remaining motivate and practicing innovation. Hope requires you to set a goal, create pathways to the achievement of that goal and identify potential obstacles. This can build your confidence, energy and excitement, allowing you to tap into motivation and identify obstacles you will need to overcome to achieve your goal. Use each of the following steps:
1. Set a goal. Write down a goal you would like to achieve.
2. Set pathways. Write down three actions or steps you will take to pursue your goal.
3. Identify obstacles. Identify obstacles that might block each of the paths you have written down.
4. Overcome obstacles. Review your pathways and write down some ways you can overcome each obstacle. This might include developing new pathways or adding additional steps to your existing pathways.
5. Maintain motivation. Write down ideas for maintaining your hope and motivation. Be mindful of the situations and obstacles that might decrease your willpower, drain you of energy, or lead to discouragement. Write down ideas for overcoming those challenges.
