WE’VE ALL HEARD the phrase “Hope is not a strategy” — and it isn’t, especially when based on illusion, delusion, fiction or false assumptions.
However, hope IS a critical part of achieving a strategy when based on what is possible.
When hope is based on real-world experience, knowledge and tangible and intangible data, it results in trust, WHICH IS NECESSARY to implementing any strategy.
Without faith in yourself, the people, processes and technologies involved, how can we achieve anything?
HOPE EMPOWERS STRATEGY
Hope is an active, empowering, constructive attitude that creates conditions for success by focusing and ACTING on possibilities and opportunities.
Hope is the attitude of champions, the fuel of optimism, the enemy of despair, and the creator of the future. Developing and strengthening this dynamic life skill is one of the most effective ways of adding to your personal power.
Hope is a general disposition to expect the best possible outcome or dwell on the most hopeful aspects of a situation. It is a positive and empowering rational attitude toward our individual and collective possibilities. It is the BELIEF that our future will contain desirable outcomes.
THE ANATOMY OF HOPE
Hope has four unique personality attributes…
- Thoughts — We think that our future will be pleasant.
- Imagination — Our fantasies depict favorable conditions.
- Energy — We feel hope and excitement regarding our future.
- Actions — We act as if the desired conditions will occur (e.g., we attend classes to prepare for the job promotion that we believe we will attain).
Hope and pessimism affect your entire worldview. Your whole approach to living is either empowered or neutered depending on which style of thinking predominates. The principles of hope provide keys for unlocking your full potential.
Tenacity is essential when you encounter setbacks on the way to any goal. Hopeful people learn from the setbacks and then try a different approach. In contrast, pessimists throw in the towel, concoct an excuse, and succumb to depression and apathy.
Hopeful people direct their thoughts and actions toward constructive problem solving and PURPOSEFUL ACTIVITY; they do not stagnate in the distractions of pessimism and worry.
HOPE REQUIRES ACTION
Many people feel virtuous and justified by complaining about problems rather than focusing on solutions. Destructive criticism feels easier than constructive thinking. In that type of environment, a hopeful, optimistic attitude sticks out much like a Super Model at a Pig Farm.
Merely believing that everything will work out fine without taking action makes one look foolish, and in my opinion that’s why hope gets bum rap.
For hope to give us the power to overcome the limits in our lives it needs to fully recognize reality, not hide from it. For hope to maximize our abilities and happiness, we have to take full responsibility for our thoughts, and WE MUST TAKE ACTION towards our goals.
Living at full capacity—a capacity beyond what most of us imagine possible—asks us to go beyond superficial formulas such as “Don’t Worry, Be Happy!” and to understand an intelligent form of hope, one that empowers strategy, and one which depends on purposeful goal directed activity.
No matter how realistic and rational we are, we have no choice but to focus our attention and attitude. Hopeful people choose to focus primarily on thoughts, events, and interpretations that induce joy, encouragement, pleasure, and constructive activity.
Learning how to develop this type of mindset is one of the many things you’ll learn at my upcoming Unleash Your Greatness event.
I sincerely hope that you will find a way to make it, and promise you an unforgettable learning experience.
Act now as seats are filling up, and the early bird price goes up next week.
Make a difference. Have an adventure. Get your hopes up.
Turn on the light, and always remember…
Everything Counts!
Gary Ryan Blair
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