Heritage

Building on pillars of hope in uncertain times

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From the shores of the Indian Ocean to the waters of Lake Victoria, Kenyans joined the world in welcoming 2022 with all the excitement and optimism typically accompanying a new year. Will 2022 finally renounce Covid-19 as we and the rest of the world struggle with the latest variant Omicron? Shall our 2022 economy fully recover and lunge forward? Will our 2022 elections pass off without glitches?

Many of our new year expectations revolve around the concept of hope. Hope also pervades my own personal interests as an author, lecturer, and researcher. My students and research partners, along with Business Daily readers, know my own multi-year struggle as a cancer survivor and the ups and downs of follow-up uncertainties, fears, reliefs, and joys.

In the last several months of 2021 I struggled with a sharp decline in hope for the future following successive positive PET scan results at Aga Khan University Hospital in Nairobi.

But other tests at the hospital showed negative cancer recurrence. Thrust into trying to make sense of the complicated world of oncological sciences, I grappled with increasing difficulty in handling life’s uncertainty.

In fact, as I type this Business Talk article, I sit in the Melanoma Center at MD Anderson Cancer Center in the United States. An Aga Khan University Hospital executive recommended I obtain second opinions from this particular American hospital as the best cancer-specific research hospital in the world. Thankfully, all tests here confirm the positive outlook of my Nairobi oncology doctor team and I eagerly look forward to my return to Kenya.

All the while, I remain profoundly grateful that for several years I have been able to allocate a substantial portion of my USIU-Africa salary to international health insurance that allows for second opinions abroad at top centres. But my heart breaks for those unable to undergo such robust cancer follow-up and reminds me to donate and be active in cancer charities back home in Kenya.

But mingling here in this new place with doctors, nurses, researchers, and patients, we have been discussing the concept of hope amidst uncertainty. I relish these discussions since I personally peered deeper into the psychological concept of hope and hope research for the past several months.

Hope social scientist Chan Hellman and a team of researchers determine that not only is hope the best predictor of well-being in someone’s life, but it is also a learnable skill that all of us can improve upon and enjoy the benefits. The three pillars of hope and improving one’s outlook and hope in life and work involve first, goal setting. Being intentional about objectives, targets, and ambitions allows one to visualise success and envision a preferred future. Then, spend time imagining what that preferred future would feel and look like.

Second, pathway thinking stands as key to enhancing hopefulness. All goals in life have various paths that one may take in order to achieve and realise a desired future. Successful goal attainment and improved hopefulness encapsulates the intentionality of thinking through and pondering multiple different pathways to achieve particular goals and the probability of success for each pathway.

Third, willpower comprises the final pillar of hope. A hopeful person increases their willpower to stick with their pathway decisions on the road towards goal attainment.

Researcher John Parsi notes that hopeful people are not simply idealistically optimistic. Instead, a hope-filled person takes responsibility and engages in actions to make sure things happen.

Business psychology author Jeffrey Davis recommends the following for action steps to help aid in enhancing one’s hopeful outlook on life: engage in deliberate daydreaming, surround oneself with hopeful people, set sights on a simple pursuit goal and gradually build longer focused goals, and stay open to the small wonders and curiosities of life to keep on track.

Jeffrey Davis also developed a free online tool to help individuals ascertain their levels of hope in their work and lives.

The tool helps classify you into one of three different categories of hope and gives recommendations how to improve your hope: “wonder beginner” for low hope individuals, “wonder experimenter” for moderately hopeful workers, and “wonder artist” for highly hopeful individuals.

Readers can access the self-assessment here: https://trackingwonder.typeform.

@ScottProfessor