Why you should abandon Hope

Hope is an interesting concept – on the face of it, it seems like a really good thing. But what is hope exactly and what does it do?

The first thing I’ve noticed is that hope is often a substitute for real action – or is used when people think they’ve run out of effective actions.

It’s an interesting thought – do people hope for success because they think they can’t do anything else to achieve it?

“I hope I win the lottery”
“I hope I’ll get promoted”
“I hope things are better today”
“I hope I can make this sale”
“I hope she likes me”

Or is it just laziness? In any case, if you’re relying on hope to do the hard work for you, I suspect that the results will be disappointing.

Now for some good news. There’s some seriously faulty thinking in the supposition that hope is the only option still available, so let’s take ‘hope’ out of the equation and think about our options.

For a start, how do you know you can’t influence the outcome?

Now I’m not talking about any far-out ‘all off in the mind’ stuff like positive thinking or even ‘The Secret’. I’m just talking about simple, practical actions taken in the real world.

Are you really sure you’ve explored all the options and done everything you can? It’s evident that not everything is under our personal control, but we do tend to underestimate our personal ability to influence outcomes.

To make it easier, let’s assume for now that there is something you can do – some unnoticed course of action which will make a positive difference. With this understanding, go through your normal day and let your mind work on the possibilities. Or think about a relevant role-model and ask yourself what they would do in this situation.

It’s vital to keep the actions as simple and practical as you can. That way, you can find out how much you can really influence the situation. Other activities (like hoping, positive thinking and ‘The Secret’) tend to feed the illusion of control and therefore are unreliable at best in a tight spot.

By taking a second look at your options, you will find that you’re more influential than you thought. So put ‘hope’ aside and begin making your dreams a reality.