Sara Hand

Several years ago at a conference discussing how to help others recover from bad things. The conversations were of hope, vision, and faith and risk and joy. And although these are all thoroughly entwined there are some very unique differences that can move you toward success or leave you languishing behind…and hope is where it starts.

Hope: the stuff that dreams are made of!

Hope knows that there is something beyond what I see today. That potential and possibility exist, and it takes that and projects it onto the screen of my future. This hope acts as a compass guiding and directing my thoughts and actions as I move faithfully forward to the reality of this hope.

 The picture I saw of it “hope” was that of a trellis or an arbor. First, with hope in place…I had a structure that my actions would fill out as I moved towards my future. And second, without it “hope…the potential for my life projected onto the screen of my future”…in place, although I could move forward, my growth would lie unstructured on the ground and unable to reach it’s full potential of growth.

 Langston Hughes in a most famous poem replaces the term “hope” with that of “dream”. In today’s world of economic uncertainty, rapidly changing technology and culture, most of which is represented in the media in negative terms above all else we must guard our hope!

So if it’s not the necessarily the best products or the best ideas that make it in the marketplace, and a good plan and plenty of funding don’t guarantee that success is inevitable; what does “it” take to succeed? The million dollar question, the magic pill, the miracle cure is…I’m sorry there isn’t one. AND anyone who tells you there is is lying!

Although the answer is simple, it certainly isn’t easy or everyone would do it. Here are some characteristics that individuals share that go on to accomplish the uncommon. Don’t take my word for it. Pick up a biography of someone you admire and see if they are there.

• Faith…to believe that there is something “more”.

• Hope…a picture of that “more” in your future.

• Courage…is the strength to take action.

• Discipline…the ability to take action on a consistent basis.

• Perseverance…the ability to continue to pursue action daily and believe in the possibility of your “more” regardless of how you feel at any given moment or what outward circumstances might indicate.

 The success or lack of success that exists in my life is determined by me. What exists or doesn’t in your life is determined by you. If you don’t like it, change it! And to change it, starts with changing ourselves. Look at the characteristics above. Are those operating in your life? If not, why not?

The secret to success is to start with a personal inventory.