BITE BACK

What is it?

Hope is believing that a good future is something that you can create.  Being hopeful means that you expect things to turn out for the best and work to make it happen.  

There are 3 parts to hope:

• Have goals, a target, an ambition
• Make a plan.  How are you going to get there?
• Stay on track.  The key is to stay motivated, even when you hit a problem (because sometimes, these problems are unavoidable!).

Hope Model¹

What are the benefits?

Having hope means that you are making plans and expecting great things.  So apart from the obvious benefit of being on track to get to where you want to be, having hope is also really good for your happiness and wellbeing. 

Hope also helps you when things get tough.  If you hit a ‘road block’ on the path to your goal it can be easy to feel down and give up trying.  But if you stay hopeful by keeping the goal and pathway in mind, you are more likely to keep moving through the tough stuff.  

Believing that you can overcome hurdles and achieve what you want is a big reason why hope is linked to happiness.

Where's the Proof?

Psychologists have conducted a number of studies to see what impact hope has on our wellbeing.  They have found that hopeful people are more likely to higher levels of wellbeing, to cope with difficult situations and do better at school than less hopeful people.²  

A study done in 2002 in the US showed that students with high levels of hope are more likely to get good grades at school and also to finish university than students with lower levels of hope.  Because these students had goals they wanted to achieve at school, strategies for achieving those goals, and motivation to stick with those strategies, their actual success was more than people without these hope strategies.³  
                                    
The good news is that research also shows that your levels of hope can be improved. In 2002 at Ohio State University, people attended 8 sessions to learn ‘hope skills’ for two hours a week.  Compared to people who did not get any hope training, the people who did the hope therapy showed lots of benefits. After the 8 weeks, those who did the hope training felt better about themselves, had higher levels of self-esteem, and  a greater belief that their life had meaning.  They also had lower levels of anxiety and depression compared to people who didn't do the hope training.¹   So it can be done! Check out ‘How do you build it?’ to find ways to boost your hope skills.
 

How do you build it?

Some people are always thinking and talking positively about the future.  But if you aren’t a naturally hopeful person there are ways to develop your hopefulness; it’s a skill, just like anything else  

Creating and achieving goals

Setting goals is the first step to creating hope about your future. There are a number of strategies that will help you to set good goals and achieve them…

Setting a good goal: A good goal is

• Realistic. E.g. “I will study on Saturday morning” may be more realistic than “I will study all weekend”.
• Specific, with a time frame and as many details as possible. You are much more likely to work towards your goal if you say when and where you’re going to do it. E.g. “I will run for 30 minutes three times a week” is more realistic than “I will get fit”.
• Focused on approaching, rather than avoiding something. E.g. “I will not become lazy” is avoidant.  “I will become fit enough to run a half marathon” is about approach, or working towards, something.

Creating pathways: This involves brainstorming different strategies to achieve your goals. It’s good to have a number of pathways just in case the first one you try does not work out, or only gets you part way there. For example, if your goal is to run a half marathon, you might think of the following pathways to get you there:

• Run 4 times a week
• Increase distance and time over a set period
• Get a running coach to train you
• Train with a group
• Register for the race

Agency: Agency means having the motivation to achieve your goals. You are more likely to be motivated by a goal that truly reflects what you want; something that you are honestly interested in.

For example, in the movie ‘Billy Elliot’, Billy tries boxing to please his father and stick with society’s expectations, yet finds that he isn’t really that good at it. When he tries ballet, he excels, because it’s what he really wants to do.  

Of course, there might be times when other people, like our teachers, set goals for us. When this happens, try to find something within that goal that motivates you. For example, if your teacher sets a chemistry exam, and you really don’t like chemistry, you could motivate yourself with the fact that you really want to be a doctor and good grades in chemistry will help you get into med at uni.

Stretch your goals out: A tip to keep up motivation is to ‘stretch’ goals, which means starting with easier goals and making them more challenging over time.  For example, if your goal is to run the half marathon, but you’ve never really run before, you could stretch the goal by taking the following steps:

• Week one: walk for 30 minutes 3 times a week
• Week three: jog for part of your walks
• Week five: Run 1km
• Week seven: Run 2km
• Week ten: Run 5km,

 …And so on until you are running the length of a half marathon.

Break goals into steps:  Another tip to maintain motivation is to break down large goals into smaller steps. For example, if your goal is to blitz that chemistry exam, you could:

• Get all the resources you need to study
• Find a quiet space where you won’t be interrupted
• Timetable your study times and breaks
• Get some study partners or a tutor if you think you’ll need help
• Write all the notes you need for revision
• Review your books and notes
• Get someone to test you
• Get a good night’s sleep the night before the exam and a good breakfast the morning of the exam
• Make sure you get there with plenty of time to spare

Future possibilities

Another, more creative way that has been shown to build hope is to have a think about your best possible future self.  Think about all aspects of your life: your future career, your ideal relationship, the perfect lifestyle… Use pictures in magazines, paper, paint, whatever you like, to create a collage of your best possible future self… a vision board of your ideal future.
 

What not to do

There are some things that can just get in the way of feeling hopeful, like:

• Thinking you can reach all of your big goals at once
• Being in too much of a rush to think of good pathways to achieving your goals
• Telling yourself that you aren’t good enough if your first strategy doesn’t work out
• Hanging around people who don’t support you
• Being constantly surprised that roadblocks appear in your way. Problems are going to come up- be ready for them
•  Getting impatient
• Thinking that things will never change
• Sometimes, when things don’t go to plan, it helps to remember other goals you’ve had that you achieved in the past. Other times, you might just need to step back for a minute and relax, laugh at yourself and try again!

Hope in action

Watch these clips:

Meet Tererai, a symbol of hope, who never let go of her dream of an education.

Meet the children of Mali, who aspire to greatness despite the obstacles in their way.