The Power of Hope: What it is, why it matters and how we can develop it in our children

How Hope Shapes Wellbeing, Success and Resilience Over a Lifetime

What if there was one quality that could improve your health, boost your happiness, and help you weather life’s toughest storms? According to an Australian study, that quality might be hope.

The Hope Study: Following Lives Across 14 Years

Between 2007 and 2021, researchers tracked 25,000 Australian adults to discover how hope influenced their lives over many years. Their findings offer a compelling case for why hope deserves a central place in our conversations about mental health, wellbeing, and personal success.

Hope’s Far-Reaching Benefits

• Better Wellbeing and Health: People with higher levels of hope reported greater happiness and wellbeing — both immediately and in the years that followed.

• Educational and Career Advantages: Hopeful individuals tended to achieve more in education, secure better jobs, and enjoy higher incomes.

• Resilience and Connection: Those with more hope experienced less loneliness and demonstrated stronger resilience, bouncing back from life’s setbacks more quickly.

• A Sense of Control: They also felt more in control of their own lives, a trait psychologists call “internal locus of control”.

What’s more, hope seemed to act as a psychological shield. When faced with major negative events, hopeful people were less affected and recovered faster, showing that hope is more than just wishful thinking — hope is a tangible force for good.

What Is Hope?

The study defines hope not merely as blind optimism (i.e. things will get better on their own), but as the determination and agency to make things better. This distinction is vital and it is a key part of what we teach people to do during our Emotional Logic sessions. Hope, in this sense, is an active choice — a blend of belief and determination that empowers us to shape our own future.

Building Hope in Our Children’s Lives

Given hope’s power to predict better outcomes in health, relationships, and personal achievement, understanding how to develop it becomes crucial. While hope can be influenced by our upbringing and environment, it’s also a skill we can help children build. Our Emotional Logic coaches do this by:

• Setting meaningful and achievable goals based on personal values.

• Breaking them into small, manageable steps.

• Honestly reviewing and then improving the child's natural bargaining style

• Celebrating progress and a child’s improved ability to overcome obstacles.

• Supporting children to connect more deeply with others; friends, school staff and family members, to share their challenges and successes. This boosts collective hope.

Whether you’re facing a personal challenge or striving for a brighter future, fostering hope can be a powerful ally. If you’re interested in learning more about how to build hope — for yourself or your family — then get in touch. There is always hope. Together, we can create a future worth looking forward to.

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