People often talk about hope, which strengthens their resolve and accompanies them even in the darkest moments. Hope helps people stay committed to their goals and motivated to act toward those goals. Hope gives people a reason to keep fighting and to believe that their current circumstances will improve. It is typically associated with high motivation, optimism, and a generally elevated mood.

What is hope in psychology?

Hope is a partly subjective concept, and both psychologists and philosophers have tried to define it. Some people believe that hope is a relatively stable personality trait, while others may feel that hope depends on external circumstances and previous experiences. Others see hope as a choice. It is commonly associated with warm feelings about the future, an increased willingness to work towards achieving goals and a positive mood. According to hope theory author Charles Snyder, hope is a positive cognitive state based on a sense of successful goal-oriented determination and planning to accomplish those goals. In other words, hope is like a snapshot of current goal-oriented thinking, emphasizing the motivated pursuit of goals and the expectation that those goals can be achieved. Snyder’s theory of hope includes goals, path, and freedom of choice. According to him, there are at least three components that people can associate with hope, namely:

• you must have focused thoughts
• to achieve these goals, you must develop strategies in advance,
• you must be motivated to put in the effort necessary to achieve those goals.

The more an individual believes in his ability to achieve the above components, the more likely he is to develop a sense of hope.

What is the difference between hope and optimism?

Optimism indeed has? a lot in common with hope, both are concerned with a positive orientation towards the future and assume that good things will generally happen in people’s lives. The difference is that optimism is a positive attitude toward a future event that is likely and likely to occur, optimists expect life to work out well and as expected. On the contrary, if someone is hopeful, he considers himself more realistic. Hopeful individuals recognize that life may not work out as planned, yet maintain a positive expectation focused on possible outcomes that are personally meaningful. 

How to develop and cultivate hope?

Great ideas and activities that promote hope in everyday life. Write the letter to yourself, but give it to a friend, write a heartfelt letter to your future self. You could tell your future self how you feel right now, what hopes and dreams you have for them, and recount what you’ve been through that month. When you are done, put this letter in a sealed envelope and give it to a trusted person who will mail it to you during an undisclosed period. They could send the letter back to you in a month, 3 months, or more, but with the hope that it will come back to you when you need it.

When you’re at your weakest, try journaling. Sometime in the future, you’ll look back at your past records and see how far you’ve come. Journaling works in two ways, not only to secure your thoughts in the immediate moment of writing but also to create a chronological history of you and your progress. Give yourself space to breathe, to grieve, to think, but also to discover what it’s like to have hope One thing to remember is that hope shouldn’t come from positivity that isn’t there. You cannot have hope without knowing the shadows of what you hope to overcome. If you are surrounded by a lot of media and news that focuses on the negative, try to also examine the positive news regarding the topic and who and where the news is coming from. A balanced perspective on hope is just as important as a balanced perspective on other topics in our lives.

Symbols of hope.

Be creative. Look for symbols of hope, and collect things that might remind you of hope in times when you might need it. Create a poster, a bulletin board of hope, using a pile of magazines to dig through and find symbols and images that make sense to you.

Go for it yourself.

Seek the solitude that is your own. Solitude without phones, radio, or loved ones can help you integrate your thoughts and senses. The goal is to achieve a solitude that transcends any real or imagined social conventions and effectively shuts you off from the daily routines of life, even if only for a few hours.

Write down your goals and keep a hope journal.

Writing down your goals is a great way to solidify your ideas and focus your thoughts. A Hope Journal takes this concept a step further by structuring your thoughts in a way that promotes hope. Write down your goals, state why you want to achieve each goal, and what motivates you, brainstorm potential paths to achieving your goals, list any potential obstacles you may face and think of ways you can overcome them. Write how you feel when you reach your goal. Visualizing who you will be and how good it will feel to reap the rewards of your hard work is one way to stay focused and motivated.