H.O.P.E.

"Hope is a beautiful thing. It gives us peace and strength, and keeps us going when all seems lost. Accepting what you cannot change doesn't mean you have given up on hope. It just means you have to focus your hope on more humanely tangible and attainable goals." -
Julie Donner Andersen, What My Widowed Husband Has Taught Me

Every day, I wear a ring engraved with the word “Hope” on it. It is my reminder of my mission and purpose in life, “to inspire others to never give away their passions, dreams or hope!” Life throws many challenges our way and, for some, these challenges slowly chip away at our dreams, passions and hope. The emotional and physical toll of hopelessness eventually wears people out to the point where they lose all sense of purpose in life. But, there is hope!

I define HOPE as follows:

H – Happiness

O – Opportunity

P – Purpose

E – Excellence

In preparation for writing this article, I read Blogs, book excerpts, and journal articles on the scientific and psychological theories of hope. There is a lot of reading to be found, but not one magical answer! Rather, there is a contrast of agreement and disagreement between various theories, philosophies, and other research.

 In 1991, positive psychologist Charles R. Snyder and his colleagues came up with the Hope Theory. Hope was defined as the perceived capability to derive pathways to desired goals, and motivate oneself via agency thinking to use those pathways. Hope Theory defines goals, pathways, and agency as: 

• Goals – Approaching life in a goal-oriented way.
• Pathways – Finding different ways to achieve your goals.
• Agency – Believing that you can instigate change and achieve these goals.

Hope comes from within. It is developed from your thoughts, which drive your actions. In the study of Positive Psychology, there is a strong case between knowing and using your innate strengths, rather than focusing on your weaknesses, to foster and develop hope. From my own experiences and interpretation of research, I believe this:

People, who can create clear mental pictures of what they want in life, will create attainable goals to go after what they want, and will use their innate strengths to achieve it! - Beckie Jorgensen

Hopelessness is not a character flaw or inherent genetic state. It is directly related to the way you think and from past experiences. The good news is that hope can be learned and developed and the state of hopelessness can be erased. But in order to do that, we as "human beings" need to

(1) increase our self-awareness,

(2) identify and accept our natural born talents,

(3) take action to use and practice our talents to developed them into strengths, and

(4)

intentionally program our minds to create hopeful thoughts that motivate us to set and achieve our desired goals.

As the Holidays approach and 2015 comes to a close, here are some tips to setting your 2016 goals.

• Set a goal because it is something you really want, not what others expect of you.
• Make goals that stretch you, but are attainable using your strengths.
• Chart out A-B-C paths to each of your goals.
• When one path does not work, do not blame yourself. Move on to the next charted course.
• Practice talking to yourself using positive words, reducing negative self-talk and/or limiting beliefs.
• View problems as “opportunities” to learn and grow.
• Recall earlier successes in your life and what specifically did you say to yourself, think or do to achieve that success.
• Involve others to gain support and hold you accountable for reaching your desired goals.

 Hope is an invaluable gift to have and to share. Wear your hope proudly and serve others. Smile at a stranger, give a hug, speak words of kindness, express gratitude or lend a helping hand. You never know how one simple, intentional act can impact and give hope back to an otherwise hopeless person.

Here is to a HOPE FILLED 2016!

"You can make positive deposits in your own economy every day by reading and listening to powerful, positive, life-changing content and by associating with encouraging and hope-building people." – Zig Ziglar

Need help identifying your innate strengths or setting your 2016 goals? To learn more, visit: www.beckiejorgensen.com.