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| The Power of Hope |
Published on 01-09-2005
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By Ken Keis
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Resource Ken has been an experienced international speaker for over 16 years and has published more than 100 articles both nationally and internationally. He has consulted with companies around the world, including Boeing Company, Van City Credit Union, Chrysler a
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| Website URL http://www.crgleader.com |
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Hope: to desire with expectations of fulfillment¯a promise for the future
All thoughts that have been emotionalized (given feelings) and mixed with hope/faith begin to translate themselves immediately into their physical equivalent.
I don’t remember the name of the movie, but I do recall this line: If you take away hope from mankind, what do you have? Really, not much!
For a moment, let’s think about the opposite of hope. Where there is no hope—if the situation seems hopeless—can you feel your energy shifting and draining?
I’ve been there. Thirty years ago, for a short period in my life, I had no hope. I could not see the promise of any fulfillment for the future. As an awkward teenager, with parents who did not communicate with me or understand me (what parents really do?), I contemplated suicide. Why? The emotional energy of hopelessness was consuming me. I lacked hope that the future would be better than the present.
Over a period of several weeks, I worked through the processes of focusing on the future to reduce my sense of hopelessness. The facts or my actual condition really did not change, but my perspective of the situation and my potential did. As a result, I am still here, a testament to the power of hope.
In his book, Man’s Search For Meaning, Viktor Frankl demonstrated that hope kept Auschwitz prisoners alive. When they lost the hope that they would ever get out, it became a self-fulfilling prophecy.
What about you? Have you given up hope somewhere in your life? Is your emotional state breeding failure for you?
Because there can be a fine line between real hope and false hope, the way you frame your hope is important. Example: you are part of a relationship that is not working. Step one is that you can hope and trust it will be healed and repaired, which does not always happen.
False hope is hoping to get back together with your partner even though he or she has already remarried. In that case, you need to reframe your hope and focus on the fact that you will be part of a successful relationship . . . with a different person.
If you want to attract a relationship to you, it is important that you truly believe another relationship is available to you . . . that you can love again and that the possibility is out there for you. The mental condition of hopelessness claims you will be alone and lonely forever, never to have a meaningful relationship ever again.
False hope is less prevalent than most people think. Some might categorize the hope of Christopher Reeves, our quadriplegic Superman, that he would walk again as false hope, but it was not. As a result of his efforts—based on his hope and faith—the reality of re-growing nerve tissue has never been closer. In many ways Christopher will walk again when the first individuals benefit from this research. For Christopher, false hope would have been putting a timeline of the next day or next week on his goal of walking again. Keep that in mind as you reframe your thoughts in your arena.
The power of hope goes far beyond negative events. Hope can be positive; you can focus it on a better career, deeper relationships, improved health and financial conditions, and success in business. Hope is a foundational characteristic of most comeback stories. When Donald Trump went bankrupt over a decade ago, he embraced the hope of the future. Now he is more financially successful than ever before.
Individuals truly Living on Purpose embrace and emotionally energize themselves with hope. My encouragement to everyone reading this ezine is that each of you has the choice to incorporate hope into every part of your life. Everyone—especially you—is valuable and can make a difference, no matter your purpose, your role, or your responsibility.
I admit to personally needing this advice, particularly around my fitness levels. I sometimes wonder (with mild hopelessness) whether I can get back into shape, considering all the other activities in my life. As soon as I let those negative thoughts take hold, my confidence goes down, my creativity to think of solutions reduces, and so on.
As we have discussed in previous ezines, our thoughts work on an attraction process. Hope is a positive response; hopelessness is a negative reaction.
Hope becomes weak when it is not based on your values and preferences. To confirm your values and increase your levels of hope, complete the Values Preference Indicator. And if you are in a business, complete the Entrepreneurial Style and Success Indicator to confirm your strengths and personal success factors. That will give you a foundation upon which to build your hope.
I would like to challenge each of you reading this ezine to not only embrace hope for yourself, but to give it away to others. Think of someone¯your significant other, child, family member, or friend—who could use some hope and offer it. After all, it’s free.
Don’t limit your possibilities or reduce your hope. Increase your levels of hope. Think of someone who has achieved what you are hoping to accomplish. If that individual has done it, so can you!
THIS WEEK'S ACTION STEPS
The Power of Hope
1. What is your level of hope in the important areas of your life: relationships, health, career, family, finances, etc.?
2. Are you satisfied with your level of hope? If not, where is your feeling of hopelessness? Document it now.
3. Your thoughts and feelings translate into an attraction process and into your physical environment. Are you aware that your thoughts are directly contributing to your current condition?
4. In response to questions 2 and 3, where do you need to change your thinking to focus more on positive outcomes?
5. Action increases confidence and hope. What steps can you take immediately to improve your condition? List them now.
6. Base your hope on your values and preferences. To confirm these characteristics, complete the Values Preference Indicator and the Entrepreneurial Style and Success Indicator.
7. To increase your success in this process, project yourself as successful in the areas in which you have the least amount of hope. Visualize your achievements. Be aware of the feeling of positive energy and emotions that that gives you. Lock this in as part of your “hope thoughts” and positive routines.
8. Do you have false hope? If so, reframe this into real hope for yourself, the way I explained that process in the relationship example above.
9. If you find yourself short of hope, borrow some from others. Yes, it is okay to ask your friends and colleagues to help.
10. Finally, give hope away to others. Think of three individuals right now whom you can call to help increase their levels of hope.
Until next time keep Living on Purpose,
Ken Keis
For information on CRG Resources, please visit http://www.crgleader.com/.
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