Is HOPE one of your character strengths?

The character strength of hope has to do with positive expectations about the future. It involves optimistic thinking and focusing on good things to come. Hope is more than a feel-good emotion. It is an action-oriented strength involving agency, the motivation and confidence that goals can be reached, and also that many effective pathways can be devised in order to get to that desired future.

Students who are high in hope have greater academic success, stronger friendships, and demonstrate more creativity and better problem solving skills. The good news is that hope is very similar to the growth mindset in that it can be cultivated.

Hope doesn’t mean wishful thinking—as in “I hope I win the lottery.” Instead, a person who is high in hope is able to:  

• Set clear and attainable goals.
• Develop multiple strategies to reach those goals.
• Stay motivated to use the strategies to attain the goals, even when the going gets tough.

Visualising the paths to your goals will help you to achieve them and using a growth mindset will help overcome obstacles.

Another hint is to remember other successes that you and role models have achieved. There are many people who have overcome adversity to reach their goals.

It’s important that you enjoy the process of attaining your goals. If you use positive self-talk, you will be more likely to achieve your goals.

The North Star; a story of life which involves following the windy track on the journey to achieving your goals.

Hope can be about your wishes for yourself in the short term and long term future. It can also be about small steps of action for the good of the whole, for example, recycling things that you have used to contribute to a cleaner planet!

Think about your role models (such as scientisits, authors, environmental activists, sporting heroes) as they have managed, through small steps and persistence, to achieve their hopes!

What are your dreams and hopes?