Chan Hellman is one of the world’s leading hope researchers. On ‘The Science and Power of Hope’ at TEDxOklahomaCity he shared how hope can be cultivated and what gets on the way of it.
He explained hope is simple (watch the video or scroll below for a summary).
- Goals
- Pathways
- Willpower
Unfortunately, trauma and adverse experiences rob us of our problem-solving skills, affecting the pathway thinking more and reducing willpower… Some key factors to overcome adversity are imagination + strong desire + having previous experiences of success (hope begets hope).
However, the final key insight he provides is this:
“Hope is a social gift. It does not happen in isolation, it happens in relationships with each other. Our connectedness with each other is one of the single best predictors of hope. Our connectedness with others, our connectedness with something greater than ourselves. Hope is a social gift.”
So we’re creating spaces to cultivate it together 🤝
Photo by Carl Hunley Jr on Unsplash
