Why You Should Get Your Hopes Up

My mom had a little proverb she used to say. I didn't always like hearing it, but eventually I understood that it was actually good advice.

"Zip up you coat," she would say.

"I can't," I would say.

"Can't never tried," she would say. And sometimes she would follow it up with, "is it that you can't, or you don't want to?"

She was on to me. I am grateful that she taught me early that before I say "I can't," I have to give the thing an honest try. Mom was helping me to overcome my limiting beliefs.

A limiting belief is a mental block that makes it impossible for you to imagine yourself doing something. Let's say your wild imagination says, "wouldn't it be neat to have a book on the best seller list?" But you think that your writing isn't good enough and you don't have anything to write about anyway. That's an example of a limiting belief.

Someone might respond, "well, it's hard to get on the best seller list so it's better to not get you hopes up."

People are always saying, "don't get your hopes up." Well, why not? What is so bad about hope? I know they mean well. That's one of those things that well meaning people say to help you avoid the pain of disappointment. But without hope for better things, how can you expect to live anything other than an average life?

We need hope.

Hope is the belief that the desired outcome is possible. When you believe that the thing you want is achievable, you will go out and get it. What do you dream of doing? Write a book or start a company? Stop telling yourself it's impossible and go after it. I hereby give you permission to get your hopes up.

Believe you can.

"Where there's a will there's a way," my dad was always reminding me. He wanted me to know that if I wanted something badly enough I could figure out a way to get it. But if I tell myself that it's impossible, I won't even try. That's what happens to a lot of people, like our would-be author. They believe something like "Best Seller" status is beyond their reach, so they give up on their dreams before they begin and never write their book at all, because "can't never tried." I don't know about you, but I would rather try and fail than live with the regret of having never tried.

Pie in the Sky?

I know, this sounds like a lot of pie in the sky. If you are thinking, "You can't just think your way onto the best sellers list," you're right. I'm not saying that all you have to do is think, but that is were it starts. It's about motivation. If you don't think something is possible, you won't even try. What I want people to do is reach for more. You won't accomplish big things without believing you can. Hoping and dreaming are only the first step. I don't want you to stop there and miss out on living an awesome life.

Do the hard work.

I would be doing you a disservice if I just filled your head with wishful thinking. The fact is if you want to be awesome you have to do the work to get there. We've all heard the silly little story about the Little Engine That Could. There is an important lesson in that story. The little engine didn't just repeat a cute mantra, she did the hard work of pulling the train. I heard Lisa Nichols tell about her experience on the swim team. She was getting tired of all the hard work and wanted to quit. Her grandmother heard her talk about quitting and said, "quitters never win and winners never quit." That Saturday at her meet, she repeated that phrase to herself all the way down the pool and back and when she stood up she was alone in the pool. At first she thought she had done worse than ever, until she saw that the next closest swimmer was still half the length of the pool behind her! She turned her mind into her ally by believe she could win if she didn't give up. Then she did the hard work and it paid off.

I'll leave you with this: make your mind your ally, believe you can and do the hard work.

You can listen to Lisa's interview with Sean Croxton here: http://seancroxton.com/podcasts/004-lisa-nichols/

For more on this topic check out Jon Acuff's book Start: Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average and Do Work that Matters https://www.amazon.com/dp/1937077594/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_awd_xs_pWrnyb8121BE1