About book Making Hope Happen: Create The Future You Want For Yourself And Others (2013)
I take away from this book three important messages. 1. Hope is the key driver for a successful life. In other words, our foresight motivates our present action. 2. Hope encompasses three integral parts: goals, agency and pathways. 3. Great people lead by hope.As Lopez points out, hope is one of the positive emotions that Barbara Frederickson discusses in her “broaden-and-build” theory. Like other positive emotions, hope helps to broaden “attention and cognition.” So, we can learn better, are more likely to come up with creative solutions to problems and move ourselves towards the goals. (p. 114) Lopez has an interesting discussion about keeping the balance between “fantasizing” and “dwelling.” Differing from wish or wishful thinking, valid hope requires a balance between the mind and the heart. It’s a reality checking process; in his words, “involves an unvarnished assessment of all of life’s limits (p. 38).” He suggests a constructive approach towards our past. In his word, “In the sweet spot of hope we have a healthy respect for the past and a passion for the future. We use the lessons (many derived from failures) and successes of the past to refine our goals, preview obstacles, and ward off hope killers (p. 117).” While focusing on history or track records, we should also take into account our potential and be willing to take the “right-size” risks. I especially like the idea how Lopez incorporates Carol Dwrek’s concept of “growth mindset” into his discussion. Being hopeful is something we can learn and nurture in children by asking a questions like, “what are your hopes and dreams(p. 103)?” And, help them to find what matters to them, and furthermore helps them to map out pathways and positive action steps. My favorite part is how creating goals should be built on our strengths and should be something excites us. In other words, we need to have salient goals. The question he raises is “Have you ever washed a rental car?” Of course not! Great people know the importance of keeping up the enthusiasm while leading their groups towards goals.It’s quit touching when Lopez discusses the concept of regoaling (p. 185). The case he gives is a doctor who helps his patients’ families to face the treatment failure on their child and to create a new goal which focuses on “helping their child die peacefully.”
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