It's 5:30 pm, and I find myself at my desk next to the window. The outside world is wrapped in darkness except for some lights from neighboring houses, casting yellow dots against the black landscape. I reflect on the undeniable reality that I've been enveloped in this profound darkness for nearly two months. The world rages on, full of hatred, violence, disaster and chaos. Faced with this global storm, I contemplate whether I want to get sucked into this darkness or seek a way to remain grounded while soaring above it, much like superheroes do.
Well, if you know me, you know the answer. So, I decided to look for some simple tools to help me reconnect to my strengths and feel empowered by my own actions and choices. Because even in the most challenging times, we have a choice.
And right on time, my teacher at the Wholebeing Institute, Phoebe Atkinson, shared a compelling article with me. The article, written by psychologist Dan Tomasulo and titled "Unlocking the Hero Within: Four Key Questions to Transform Your Life," not only provided all the answers I was seeking, but also the central idea is literally called HERO. Thank you, universe!Naturally, that got me excited to share these insights with you.
The article is about Psychological Capital (Psycap) and the ways to achieve it.This term, initially coined by Fred Luthans for organizations, describes the internal resources that we each have available to help us manage challenging situations. Those resources are referred to as HERO.
Being a mental HERO means having high levels of four healthy psychological states:
Hope, (Self-) Efficacy, Resilience, and Optimism. These four states, when combined, contribute more than the sum of their parts to our mental health. Having the HERO elements enhances the development of a positive perspective on life, propels well-being, and even improves health outcomes such as lower BMI and cholesterol levels.
Luckily for you, as with any other capital, Psycap can be developed and nurtured. So let’s start exploring the four elements of HERO and the ways to activate them:
Hope
Hope is about envisioning a better future. It's about having goals of a positive outcome, the willpower to reach them, and the waypower to figure out ways to overcome challenges. Making hope a reality doesn't mean the journey will be easy or fast, but it should be doable. Fun fact, It's the only positive emotion that needs negative circumstances or the presence of uncertainty in order to emerge, making it unique.
▷ Activating hope: A good way to develop hope is by strengthening your sense of control. This can be achieved by focusing on what actions are in your power to take, rather than what is out of your hands. ▷▷▷ Start by identifying all the things that are within your control such as what time you’re getting up, whether you’re exercising, are you meeting your friends, how much media you’re consuming etc. ▷▷▷ List them up. ▷▷▷ Refer back to the list as a reminder whenever you feel your life is out of control.
Efficacy
Self-efficacy is having confidence in your capacity to take action and accomplish your goals. It's the empowerment you experience by knowing you'll persevere and succeed if you put in the necessary effort.
▷ Activating Self Efficacy:
A robust way to increase levels of self-efficacy is by looking at your past achievements.
This will help in recognizing what is in your power to do.
▷▷▷ Track some significant past achievements. ▷▷▷ Next, find the first step you can take, an action that will kickstart your progress.
▷▷▷ I recommend starting small and experiencing success, this will motivate you to continue pursuing your goal. For instance, if you choose to resume meditation, begin with a commitment to practice it for 5 minutes a day, once or twice a week - not more. ▷▷▷ Observing others in similar situations effectively overcoming difficulties could reinforce the belief that you can also do it. Do you see someone inspiring? Follow his actions and experiment with what he does.
Resilience
Psychological resilience is the capacity to bounce back after facing emotionally challenging life events. Today, we know that it's also possible to experience PTG-post-traumatic growth and become stronger. In fact, it's a more likely outcome than suffering from PTSD.
▷ Activating Resilience Resilience requires you to adopt a flexible mindset that will allow you to experiment with new strategies to tackle obstacles. That means improvising. ▷▷▷ Be creative and spot opportunities to move around obstacles instead of getting stuck. ▷▷▷ It won't always work on your first go, so be patient and keep going.
Optimism Optimism is a general expectation that good things will happen in the future. It doesn't mean expecting everything to always be super easy. It's more like expecting the future to be primarily positive while understanding that life comes with its fair share of challenges. ▷ Activating Optimism: It's important to know that how you evaluate past events significantly impacts how you predict the future. ▷▷▷ Practice embracing the past, even if things didn’t turned out as you expected.
▷▷▷ Savore the present - be mindful and fully appreciate the small, daily moments, like playing with your child or sharing laughter with a friend over a cup of coffee. ▷▷▷ See the future as a source of endless opportunities.
I want you to know that you’re carrying this HERO within you. Right now.
It was always there, and it will always be.
The question is, to what extent are you activating it?
Improving any of the four aspects of hope, efficacy, resilience, and optimism will positively impact the other elements and your overall well-being and life satisfaction.
So, take a beat to reflect on how you would like to wrap up this year. Do you want to finish it off like a HERO? If so, seek out opportunities for growth and development, and begin learning from your setbacks instead of fearing them. Let today be the day you do something differently than your usual routine.
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