“Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.”
– Helen Keller
I’m told that fear is among the most powerful of emotions. It is primal and can cause one to act out of character. Furthermore, it is often difficult to overcome fear. In order to do so, one must call on another strong emotion. I recommend hope. With hope, one has a positive expectation or desire for a better future.
Hope is optimistic. Hope offers an alternative vision. Hope gives us something to strive for and to look forward to.
Concerned about current events? Discontented with policies and politics? Exhausted by the grind? Hope promises brighter days ahead.
Down on your luck? Maybe out of a job or struggling with health issues? Hope instills the belief that opportunity is just over the horizon.
Struggling to find your footing? Unable to focus? Challenged with a problem for which you can seem to find a solution? Hope ensures that you will soon be on solid ground.
I think that by engaging in networking – in relationship building – we are creating hopefulness. The relationships we establish and nurture necessarily lead to new knowledge, new opportunities, new experiences. Through interactions with others, we learn about the possible, we have access to previously unimagined information and ideas, we conceive of plans with fresh eyes and optimism.
So, one might wonder, how do we go about acquiring hope? Try some of these ideas… adapt them to suit your style:
- Surround yourself with positive, upbeat, hopeful people.
- Make a list of your successes, things that make you proud, experiences that make you happy.
- On a piece of paper, document three to five SMART goals for yourself (S-specific, M-measurable, A-actionable, R-realistic, T-timebound). Hold yourself accountable for going after them.
- Focus on things that make you feel empowered.
- Do something to help someone else. Reflect on how that act of kindness makes you feel.
- Reach out to someone you to schedule coffee – either virtually or in person.
Your proactive efforts to seek out hope will lead to… well, hopefulness! Have hope.
Do you have an approach to instilling hope in your life and/or the lives of others? Please visit blog.CoffeeLunchCoffee.com to share your wisdom with the CLC Community.
Happy Networking!