Hope is a belief that the future is going to bring us something good. Hope fuels motivation. It answers the question “Why bother?” It is critical to have a high level of hope even for normal daily functioning. Let alone achieving ambitious goals.
Feeling hopeless is debilitating. It sucks emotional energy without any external adversities. Despite being a hardcore optimist, lately, even I find myself feeling hopeless.
The good news is you are not stuck with it. Here are 3 simple strategies to increase your level of hope.
Borrow hope from others
Hope is contagious. Spend more time with family and friends who can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Minimize time spent with pessimists and cynics.
Draw inspiration from memoirs and movies, based on real-life stories. Here are a few:
- Viktor Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning (book)
- Dr. Edith Eva Eger, The Choice: Embrace the Possible (book)
- Freedom writers (film)
- Erin Brockovich (film)
Create hope
You need to train your brain to have a positive future outlook. Affirmations don’t work as well as visible results. One of my favorite practices is a shiny kitchen sink that I borrowed from FlyLady. Your task is to clean your sink and make it shine every day. Actually, you can pick any task. It could be tidying your desk, making the bed or even bringing your inbox to zero.
Chose the one you not currently doing and try to achieve the best possible result. Make sure you do it mindfully focusing on your ability to create a positive future. Don’t forget to celebrate the practice.
Break the habit of negative thinking
If I tell you not to think of a pink elephant, the only thing you will be thinking about … yes, a pink elephant. The same happens with negative thoughts.
These practices help you to break the negative thinking habit:
- Start noticing and writing down your negative thoughts. Pay particular attention to sentences with such words as never, always, and not again.
- Challenge your negative thoughts. The practice I find most helpful is the Work by Byron Katie. For each negative thought ask the following questions
- Is this true?
- Can you absolutely know that that it’s true?
- How do you react, what happens, when you believe that thought?
- Who would you be without that thought?
- Is the opposite as true as or truer than the original thought?
3. Practice meditation to learn to observe your thoughts come and go, and not dwell on them.
Therapists call hope the secret ingredient. Doctors believe that hope plays an integral part in healing. Following these strategies, you might not immediately feel the difference and see the result. But you will be creating a lifeline for your future self!
