The Value of Hope and Dreams

In my recent blog I discussed how we can feel helpless in challenging situations especially when we feel we have no control over what is happening. Through feeling gratitude for small things every day, I’d found I started to feel hopeful for the future. In this article, I am exploring hope, dreams, and goal setting further and offering some ideas for how this supports building resilience and wellbeing.

Finding a Sense of Direction

When we have no sense of direction for where our life is going, it can mean we have lost meaning and purpose. In business, there is often discussion around vision and objectives/goals and the strategies to achieve them. It is important to know what success will look like so critical success factors are identified and ways to measure progress towards them agreed. Successful businesses will create a balance of measures across finances, customers, efficiency, and learning.

In our personal lives we can also think about our dreams and set ourselves goals to help us reach those dreams. To thrive and be well, it is helpful to have a range of goals so you can create a balance across your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing. There could be work related goals, maybe something around career progression, finding a new role, or perhaps a period of consolidation. In addition, you might want to set a goal around a personal dream you have that energises you.

The topic of dreams and goals comes easily to some as they enjoy looking to the future and focus on the rewards that may bring.  Others, and this could be you, find it hard to create goals and are more motivated by solving problems and issues. Either is fine as it depends on your personal preferences; it is possible to frame your dreams and follow your progress as you remove issues and celebrate your success in that way.

Finding Your Why?

For a goal or dream to be meaningful, it is important to know why you are doing it. What is it giving you and why? If you are looking to progress your career, you might be thinking about a promotion and an increase in salary, but what does this give you, why is it important? If you can get an understanding of what is motivating you, then your dreams become far more powerful and meaningful. For example, a promotion may give you more money and more responsibility at work. The reason this is important for you is because you can better support your family and also make a difference to customers through having additional responsibility for decisions made regarding products and services offered to them.

Enjoy the Journey

Hope theory has demonstrated that having something to look forward to contributes towards our wellbeing, but it is not just about the goal. The enjoyment often comes from the way we get to our goal, what the journey to get there is like and pausing on the way to enjoy the steps. Taking time to celebrate each step towards your goal supports your wellbeing.

There may be challenges on the way as things often don’t go to plan. If you have created a journey that you are enjoying, then it is easier to make a small adjustment to overcome a challenge, than it is when all your energy is focused on the result. At times it might feel like you will never get there, but we often learn most when things don’t go as planned. And when we take time to reflect on the journey so far, it becomes clear how much we have already achieved. 

We also know that it’s easier together. Sharing our hopes, dreams and goals with others brings them alive and helps achieve them. Our closed Facebook group is a hugely supportive community and is already helping people connect, learn how to better take care of themselves as well as sharing what matters to them. We’d love you to come and join us – just ask to be added to it here.