Why hopeful people don’t always succeed

BY DANIEL COLE

“In the end, that’s what this election is about. Do we participate in a politics of cynicism or do we participate in a politics of hope?

John Kerry calls on us to hope. John Edwards calls on us to hope.

I’m not talking about blind optimism here – the almost willful ignorance that thinks unemployment will go away if we just don’t think about it, or the health care crisis will solve itself if we just ignore it.

That’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about something more substantial. It’s the hope of slaves sitting around a fire singing freedom songs; the hope of immigrants setting out for distant shores; the hope of a young naval lieutenant bravely patrolling the Mekong Delta; the hope of a millworker’s son who dares to defy the odds; the hope of a skinny kid with a funny name who believes that America has a place for him, too.

Hope – Hope in the face of difficulty. Hope in the face of uncertainty. The audacity of hope!”

Those were the words of the 44th President of the United States of America, Barrack Hussien Obama, during his presidential campaign in 2004. He appeals for hope; it’s not surprising he won. It was Hal Lindsey who says, “Man can live about forty days without food, about three days without water, about eight minutes without air, but only for one second without hope.”

Did the former US President keep all his promises, after eight years in the Oval office? No! Interestingly, according to Politifact, the former US president kept 48% of his campaign promises, 27% were compromised, and 24% were broken. We hope because we know that what we’re desiring isn’t in our lives yet. The material absence of what we’re hoping for is the fabric of reality that creates hope.

The hope for a better future is perhaps the reason we all work from dawn to dusk. The late nights and the early mornings. We go to school to get a degree with the hope that upon completion, we will become valuable to society, make a good living, and provide for our family.

It costs nothing to hope, but hope in itself is illusive without an intentional plan and strategic actions. Hope has its place in the pursuit of any dream, but it should always be kept in perspective.

We are not healthy because we hope to be healthy; it takes a healthy diet and regular exercise to stay healthy. No one gets rich by hoping to be rich, it takes planning, investing, saving, hard work, and strategies to create wealth. Empires are not built by merely pasting pictures on vision boards and chanting positive affirmations, affirmations are good, but that’s just one part of the success equation.

There is a clear distinction between hoping, planning, and taking actions, and the missing link for so many is they are overly optimistic, but no strategies and intentional plan. George S. Patton once said, “Don’t fall victim to what I call the ready-aim-aim-aim-aim syndrome. You must be willing to fire.” Tom Peters puts it this way, “Ready, aim, fire. Do it! Make it happen! Action counts. No one ever sat their way to success.

Quit making excuses, putting it off, complaining about it, dreaming about it, planning about it, thinking about it, whining about it, believing you can’t, waiting for the right opportunity, or wondering if you. Hold on tight, say a prayer, make a plan, and just do it.

The future does not only rest in the arms of hope, the future would become a reality through strategic planning, action, faith, doggedness, persistence, and prayer. Keep Hope Alive, but remember, it takes more than hope to live your dream.