Turning Hope into Action

Hope is vital to business, and incredibly motivating – but it can also be paralyzing, keeping us from taking action. Too much hope and our dreams stay just out of reach, because we’re too busy hoping to take the steps we need to take. How can we make sure hope is lighting our fire, rather than burning us out?

Welcome to Bliss for Business! If you’re an entrepreneur, small business owner, or career-driven individual, tune in on Wednesdays to join Dani on an adventure to learn how to bring your work life in harmony with the thirteen Bliss Habits.

Hope is a funny thing. In measured doses, it motivates us. Keeps us going when things are bad, keeps us moving forward when we can’t see the end (or aren’t even sure we’re headed in the right direction). Let us believe, even for a second, that things will be okay.

Hope is important. It’s vital to business – all the business plans and revenue projections in the world don’t mean squat without a little bit of hope.

But hope can also be paralyzing. Too much hope and our dreams stay just out of reach, because we’re too busy hoping to take the steps we need to take.

You can sit at your computer (or behind your spinning wheel, or at the window) hoping for things to get better, hoping to land that client, hoping that your income levels will go up, hoping that the tide will turn. You can even believe that all of those things are true, or will come true. But hoping and believing and channeling positive energy are not enough. You need to take action to make these things happen!

What can you do to make sure hope is lighting your fire, rather than burning you out?

Acknowledge your hopes and dreams. Don’t think those thoughts quietly to yourself – shout them out, write them down. Bring them into this plane of existence. Acknowledging that they exist, and seeing them for what they are, lets you align them with where you are and where you’re headed.

Take note of the way you are hoping, and think about ways to help that hope along. Are you sitting quietly behind your computer hoping against hope that your e-book will sell? Is there anything you can do to give that a better chance of happening? It doesn’t have to be a big, sweeping gesture – small things help hopes become reality too. Are you steaming in a corner hoping your work atmosphere will get better? What can you do today to help that hope along?

Make hope your quest-indicator. When you find yourself hoping for something, let that be your starting gun. Say “I’m hoping for this, therefore I want it – what can I do *right now* to make that happen?” Post your hope quests somewhere prominent so that they remind you of why you’re doing the things you’re doing…and reward yourself for successfully completed quests!

What about you? What has your experience been with hope? Are you trapped in hoping or questing for your very own grail? Share with us below!
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Dani Nelson is a geek and a hippie with a passion for helping smart, creative entrepreneurs make their businesses better. Her secret ingredients? Strategy, tenacity, tasty beverages, and two unshakable beliefs: that you (yes, you) have awesome things to share with the world, and that marketing doesn’t have to be awful.