Over the years, human beings have consistently argued about whether or not hope is helpful. It is almost a subjective term, and researchers have struggled for years to define it and measure it. Some believe that hope is important, it’s a personality trait, an experience or something that doesn’t work and is not important. But why is hope required and why is it important? Simply because life is tough. We are faced by various kinds of challenges and sometimes just setting goals or being positive is not enough. Hope is not only a feel- good emotion.
According to an eminent positive psychologist, Charles Richard Snyder, who was also one of the leading specialists in hope, stated that hope is represented as an ability to conceptualise and decide goals, find pathways to reach these goals despite obstacles and have the motivation to work on achieving the goals.
People often confuse hope with positivity and optimism. The difference is that being positive and optimistic might not always include setting goals and working towards them. Hope instils a positive mood about a goal or a future situation. Which can influence how a person currently views themselves, and their future, and that leads to behavioural changes. It creates an emotional and cognitive motivational system within a human being according to Psychology Today. This allows us to act based on our thoughts instead of our emotions. The concept of hope states that emotions following thoughts are healthy, while thoughts following emotions are not. It allows us to set goals, engage in learning how to achieve goals, plan strategies to meet goals and monitor progress.
A person who is hopeful deals with disappointments a lot differently than a person who isn’t. Hopeful people are often able to view unpleasant as temporary, recognize that there may be a brighter future and work towards it. Hope is therefore related to positive outcomes, as it allows us to visualize and achieve. It motivates us to learn to be resilient, helps us be creative and improves performance because we keep trying.
According to Psychology Today, “Hope can be distinguished from other psychological vehicles such as self-efficacy and optimism”. Self-efficacy is the belief that you can master your domain. Optimism is the expectation that everything will be alright and turn out positively. These aspects focus mostly on the future, but they are finely different from each other. The difference is that people with hope have both the will, the way and the strategies required in order to achieve their goals.
Hope is a concept that can be applied to various aspects of our lives. For instance, in relationships that are conflictual look at how to be hopeful, set goals together and achieve them. Whether in a relationship, career, education or finances, hope can lead us to achieve goals in a way that we want to achieve them and work on them. In conclusion, having the strength to accept when your hope is exhausted is important. As this might lead us to finding new pathways to hope.
References
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/beautiful-minds/201112/the-will-and-ways-hope
http://www.fulfillmentdaily.com/5-ways-hope-improves-success/
https://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/psychpedia/what-is-hope
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