I am obsessed with all things Zingerman’s.
If you’re not familiar with Zingerman’s it’s a community of businesses in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
I could spend days talking about them.
Basically what they have done in the food business is what we are trying to do in the health, hospitality, and personal/business development spaces.
Either directly or indirectly I have referenced Zingerman’s and their co-founder Ari Weinzwig a plethora of times as his work has changed my life.
They share very similar values, beliefs, and best practices.
Ari has a 4 part book series I would highly recommend, and I’m about halfway through the fourth book.
It’s a book entirely only beliefs and how your beliefs change your action, and how you changing your beliefs can change you, your organization, and the world around you.
It’s deep and powerful stuff, and as you can tell, I’m totally obsessed.
However, I read about the six-pointed hope start this morning and I thought it was worth sharing.
Hope is a powerful things.
Hopeful for change, hopeful for a better future.
We experience hope on our personal lives, in our work lives, everywhere.
If we don’t have hope, we don’t have a purpose.
Whether we’re talking about hope that we can hit a goal, hope that something will change in our life, or hope that we’ll live a meaningful life.
Unfortunately in life, we may be surrounded with people who crush our hope, and when hope is crushed over and over, we lose motivation, we lose drive, and we lose purpose.
In his book, Ari talks about a metaphor where hope is the sun, it helps us grow, and if hope is low, our “sun” is blacked out and energy is exhausted, and our quality of life/work suffers.
I hope that tomorrow can be better than today, that our work will make a difference, and that if we work hard and go after greatness, good things will happen.
I hope that I continue to contribute to my emotional and intellectual improvement and all around us.
Hope is a powerful thing.
So whether we’re talking about hope that you’ll hit a goal, stick with it, or see a change, or hope that life will get better, there is no denying hope is a crucial component to our life and personal development.
In the chapter on hope, Ari outlines the “Six-Pointed Hope Star.”
Think of it as an action plan to instill more hope in your life, or others.
The six pointed star of hope is as follows.
Help people see a better future- This is visioning. What makes hope happen is the belief that there’s a real and reasonable shot at successfully doing the work to get where we want to go. Have a really clear vision for what you want and where you want to go.
Help people see how they might get to that future-Positive psychologist Rick Snyder, refers to this as “waypower,” which, he says, “reflects the mental plans or roadmaps that guide hopeful thought.” There’s more than one way way to get what we want, but there is always a path to follow to get what we want.
Show people how much they matter-As you can tell, these are framed in a context of helping others instill more hope into their lives, but you can adjust it to self advice. You matter. Everything you do matters. You make a difference in this world. Continue to recognize and appreciate that who you are and what you do matters.
Help people see how much their work maters-It doesn’t matter whether we’re talking about “work” within your organization, “work” in your family, or in any other facet of life. What you do matters, and it’s important to have people (bosses, friends, coaches) in your life to help you recognize that.
Help people see how small steps are they to success-Is it not crazy how “1% Better” comes up in literally every facet of life!? “Hope is created moment by moment through small deliberate choices. What most of the world perceives as a powerful bold stroke of genius is nearly always a composite of many thousands of littler things.” Whether we’re talking developing as a person, hitting a fitness goal, or putting more hope into your life, it’s all about small action steps complied on top of each other.
Show people how they fit into the larger whole-People’s level of hope tends to increase when they connect-in a meaningful way to something greater than themselves. That’s why being a parent and raising a family is so fulfilling. It becomes less about you, and more about being a part of something bigger. That’s why our gym community has been so successful. Yes, it’s important that you have your personal goals, and grow as a person, but it’s just as much about feeling connected to a community. People want to be a part of things. The more you can foster that for others, and the more you can find versions of that in your life the more hope you’ll have.
I know today was a deep topic, but hopefully (no pun intended) you see how much it matters, in fitness, in business, in life.
How can you fit more hope into your life?
How can you spread more hope to others?
1% Better.
Dedicated to Your Success,
Doug Spurling