This micro-intervention is designed to be used either in a small group or individually. The time it takes you to complete the tasks will differ from the next person. However, thinking always takes longer than we anticipate. Maybe give it an hour and see what happens. Silence your devices, and have paper and pens ready.
Background
Hope is not a wish. It is an acknowledgement that the future can be better than the present, and that you can participate in the shaping of it. A well-developed theory in positive psychology (Synder, 2000) identifies the primary components of hope as:
goals
pathways
agency
For this micro-intervention, we’ll use 1) goal design, 2) pathway generation, and 3) overcoming obstacles as a tripartite approach to building hope. This intervention design is based on a paper by Luthans, Avey, Avolio, Norman & Combs (2006).
Let’s Begin
Think of goals that are personally valuable to you, that are transferable to your job and workplace. Write a few down. You’ll use these goals as we go through the stages of this micro-intervention. When thinking of each goal, consider:
an end point that measures success
ways that allow you to move toward accomplishing your goal
possible sub-goals that could be considered ‘small wins’
Stage one
Think of different pathways you can take to get to a goal. Jot down notes and ideas for each pathway, keeping them separate. At this stage, don’t worry too much about practicality. This stage is for brainstorming rather than editing. Per one goal, have a few different pathways toward reaching it.
Stage two
Now it’s time to hear from someone else. If you’re in a small group, talk about your pathways. If you are doing this individually, there are a few options:
Option A: Call a peer or person whose judgement you trust. Tell them about your pathways and ask them how they have reached their own goals in the recent past.
Option B: Watch this video of a TedTalk presenter describing her goals. Consider how her approach includes components that may improve one of your pathways.
Option C: Identify a peer, colleague, manager or similar with whom you can chat to briefly about goal pathways. Take this time to practice talking through what you have on the page in preparation for explaining it to someone else later today.
This stage benefits from hearing about others’ goal pathways. If you can’t immediately hear from someone else, make the effort to do so soon.
Stage three
Anticipate obstacles in the way of achieving your goals. Ask yourself, “What might stop me from reaching this goal?” When you have noted a few possible obstacles, think about how you could overcome them.
Come back to your original pathways. Consider what resources you would need for each pathway. Discard or demote the pathway/s that is/are too resource-heavy and prioritise that which has a good blend of {not too much resource + ways to overcome obstacles}.
Final thoughts
When we hit obstacles in our goal pathway, it’s easy to be de-motivated and to lose hope. Instead of spending too much time focussing on the negative, take what learning point you can away from the obstacle and place your effort in a different pathway.