Life is so many things – it’s wonderful, and beautiful, and rewarding…but it’s no secret that life can also be incredibly hard. 

There are times when it can feel impossible trying to keep up with everything in front of you. 

Add in trying to make a change in your life? Paralyzing. 

It’s just too much sometimes.

This leaves you feeling hesitant…insecure…unsettled…

It takes your power away. 

But making positive change in your life is more possible than it feels, especially when you lean into hope.

What Is Hope? 

Some may think of hope as dreaming or wishing for an ideal outcome, but hope is more than a thought or simply being optimistic.

In fact, The Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology distinguished the difference between the two, defining optimism as a focus on the general outcome of a situation, where hope is rooted in taking action to reach specific goals. 

It’s a way of thinking that bridges the gap between struggle and possibility, and cultivating hope in your life is a cornerstone of wholesome wellness. 

It’s what guides you through the storms of life, and helps you to break through setbacks with resilience. 

It’s what can invite a sense of calm into your life when things feel uncertain.

And when it comes to tackling change in your life, it acts as the fuel that keeps you going and even helps to maintain joy amidst your struggles. 

“Rules for happiness: something to do, someone to love, something to hope for”.

– Immanuel Kant, German Philosopher

The Power of Hope 

By leaning into hope, you can harness the power to bring about real transformation in your life – in fact, there are thousands of published studies that have found hope theory to be one of the biggest factors behind accomplishing goals and leading a wholesome life. 

We’ve seen it first-hand. 

At Livable Spaces, we help our clients foster change in their lives by compassionately working through the SHiFT^Ⓡ Method, and a large part of what makes the process possible involves leaning into hope.  

You cannot create change without it. 

When we work with our clients, applying the SHiFT^Ⓡ Method addresses the areas of life – social, health, i am deserving, finances, and time –  that are significantly impacted by chronic disorganization, and making changes in these areas of life is certainly not easy. 

But that’s the beauty of hope – it can exist alongside the everyday challenges of life, and it’s what helps to carry you through.

Leaning into hope does not mean you’ll never have days of doubt…it doesn’t mean you’ll only see the bright side of things…

But it does shine a light at the end of the tunnel. 

Hope has the power to SHiFT^Ⓡ your life by:

• Healing & inspiring relationships with others and yourself (Social) 

• Encouraging engagement in healthy behaviors, both physically & mentally (Health)

• Leading you to positive outcomes that reinforce your self-worth (i am deserving)

• Encouraging motivation with financial goals (Finances)

• Allowing you to be intentional with your actions, increasing productivity (Time) 

So how do you lean into hope? How do you find it?

3 Steps To Cultivate Hope In Your Life 

Hope exists within you, whether you feel it or not. 

With a little patience and trust in yourself, you can build the skills and emotional regulation to become hopeful on your journey to building the best version of yourself. 

1. Set Goals – imagine your ideal circumstance 

Do you have a goal to declutter your home before the holidays?

Or make your garage more accessible for a place to start working out again (or dare I say it, park your car?!)? 

Would you like to work on being more organized with your home tasks and your time?  

Wherever it is you want to be in life, take the time to dream, imagine it in vivid detail, and then write out your goals where they can be seen by you daily.  

2. Map Out Your Pathways – plan a course of action 

Hope can turn optimism to reality, but not without action. 

Once you’ve envisioned the life you want for yourself and set goals in place, it’s time to get specific about the actions and behaviors you will adopt to pave your way. 

This can be done several ways: 

– if you’re a visual person, draw a map listing specific routes to your destination, marking out stops or “mini goals” along the way. 

– if you prefer lists, write out your main goals followed by sub-tasks and checklists. 

Whichever method you choose, know that there will be setbacks along the way and situations that warrant problem-solving. This is ok! Just be realistic about your expectations and the time you have to work your way down the path you’ve laid out. 

3. Develop Willpower 

Sometimes when people think “willpower,” they think it involves having superhuman self-discipline, but the willpower we are referring to is based more around making a commitment to yourself, and knowing you are deserving of that commitment. 

It means leaning into your self-worth and each day choosing to commit to the path that brings you closer to where you want to be in life. 

So how do you do this? 

With grace, patience, and routine. 

Start by writing out non-negotiable actions that will act as “toward moves” in guiding you down the path you want to go. Maybe this includes waking up 30 minutes early every day to write out your to-do list. Or spending 20 minutes in the morning prepping dinner so the kitchen won’t be such a burden to clean at night. Whatever it is, write it out and create a routine. 

But remember, this doesn’t mean that things will be perfect, and it doesn’t mean you won’t have setbacks. Life is full of them. But you can get back on track and still make great progress.

Especially when you lean into that hope.

Some other ways to cultivate and nurture hope

• Set affirmations 
• Practice naming your emotions – remember that hope can still exist amongst difficulties
• Pause and ground yourself with meditation practices 
• Practice gratitude – list out 3 things to be grateful for and 3 things that went well that day 

Lean Into Us 

If after all of this, you’re still finding it difficult to find hope, we want you to know that we’re here for you to lean on. 

Not only do we help with the organizational needs you have, we prioritize and deeply value the relationship we build with you along the way, and we will help teach you how to let hope into the voids that are holding you back. 

We want to see you thrive. 

We want to see you SHiFT^Ⓡ.