November 2020
What have you been doing in your downtime? Likely, tech-savvy people spend extended periods on social media reinvigorating their feeds, while studious types read ahead on assignments. Recently, I have found myself online browsing. While I do not have an Oxford Dictionary definition, online browsing is strikingly similar to online shopping, except there is absolutely no intention to click purchase at the end. A majority of broke graduate students like myself do this regularly, I assume. Yet my most recent sessions have been very eccentric.
My typical shopping custom includes considering the cost and utility of an item of clothing. I mainly focus on business casual attire, as I am now in graduate school and need to look professional. However, lately I am looking at clothing worn to red-carpet events. Images of myself receiving an award in a fabulous evening gown have flooded my mind, entering into my daily thoughts. I have even asked some family members if they would want to attend if I ever received an award nomination. For reference, I am nowhere near this point in my life to be ruminating on such issues with tests coming up and papers due.
However, I believe there is a beneficial aspect to all this. Looking at such exquisite clothing is a type of manifestation. I am a staunch believer that our emotions guide our reality and that what we put out into the universe, we also receive. Therefore, with online shopping, it may seem that I am merely fantasizing about an improbable future. Nonetheless, what if it is more than just that? What if putting out good energy into the universe sets my future-self up for success? This idea is not merely an attempt to justify looking up expensive dresses to play mental dress-up. Having the ability to see ourselves succeeding in the future can have real-life benefits.
Snyder's Hope Theory in positive psychology supports this argument. Formulated in the late 1990s by psychologist Dr. Charles Snyder, Snyder's Hope Theory suggests that those who can imagine themselves with positive future success attain it (Snyder, 2002). Even when they seem impossible to complete by outside observers, those who have "high-hope" can reach their goals. He even tested his theory in both athletic endeavors and academic pursuits, finding that hope is advantageous in both arenas. The latter is especially important for graduate students.
Well, I am sure you are asking, how can you achieve high-hope? According to Snyder's Hope Theory, high hope is developed by establishing goals and plans to reach them. It also takes time to figure out alternate routes when obstacles arise, which is another major factor. Thus, hope is not a blind goal without any thought behind how to get there. In the most basic sense, hope is positive self-talk, whereby a person sees themselves as capable of achieving long-term desires and can formulate a plan to get there.
Take time to visualize where you will be in 10 or 15 years and begin thinking about how you will get there. Will you further your education, take on a new job, or travel to a new place? Perhaps you will receive a Nobel Prize in your area of interest or hold a position of esteem in an organization, save an animal population from extinction or pass a law that saves a generation. If you do not have the aspirations to reach a high achievement level, you may never get there, so become hopeful today. Perhaps even do some online browsing to figure out what you are going to wear.
Check out Snyder’s paper to learn more about Snyder's Hope Theory below.
Snyder, C. (2002). Hope Theory: Rainbows in the Mind. Psychological Inquiry, 13(4), 249-275. Retrieved October 19, 2020, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/1448867
---Vanessa Davis
Vanessa Davis is a Master's student in the Bush School of Government and Public Service
My typical shopping custom includes considering the cost and utility of an item of clothing. I mainly focus on business casual attire, as I am now in graduate school and need to look professional. However, lately I am looking at clothing worn to red-carpet events. Images of myself receiving an award in a fabulous evening gown have flooded my mind, entering into my daily thoughts. I have even asked some family members if they would want to attend if I ever received an award nomination. For reference, I am nowhere near this point in my life to be ruminating on such issues with tests coming up and papers due.
However, I believe there is a beneficial aspect to all this. Looking at such exquisite clothing is a type of manifestation. I am a staunch believer that our emotions guide our reality and that what we put out into the universe, we also receive. Therefore, with online shopping, it may seem that I am merely fantasizing about an improbable future. Nonetheless, what if it is more than just that? What if putting out good energy into the universe sets my future-self up for success? This idea is not merely an attempt to justify looking up expensive dresses to play mental dress-up. Having the ability to see ourselves succeeding in the future can have real-life benefits.
Snyder's Hope Theory in positive psychology supports this argument. Formulated in the late 1990s by psychologist Dr. Charles Snyder, Snyder's Hope Theory suggests that those who can imagine themselves with positive future success attain it (Snyder, 2002). Even when they seem impossible to complete by outside observers, those who have "high-hope" can reach their goals. He even tested his theory in both athletic endeavors and academic pursuits, finding that hope is advantageous in both arenas. The latter is especially important for graduate students.
Well, I am sure you are asking, how can you achieve high-hope? According to Snyder's Hope Theory, high hope is developed by establishing goals and plans to reach them. It also takes time to figure out alternate routes when obstacles arise, which is another major factor. Thus, hope is not a blind goal without any thought behind how to get there. In the most basic sense, hope is positive self-talk, whereby a person sees themselves as capable of achieving long-term desires and can formulate a plan to get there.
Take time to visualize where you will be in 10 or 15 years and begin thinking about how you will get there. Will you further your education, take on a new job, or travel to a new place? Perhaps you will receive a Nobel Prize in your area of interest or hold a position of esteem in an organization, save an animal population from extinction or pass a law that saves a generation. If you do not have the aspirations to reach a high achievement level, you may never get there, so become hopeful today. Perhaps even do some online browsing to figure out what you are going to wear.
Check out Snyder’s paper to learn more about Snyder's Hope Theory below.
Snyder, C. (2002). Hope Theory: Rainbows in the Mind. Psychological Inquiry, 13(4), 249-275. Retrieved October 19, 2020, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/1448867
---Vanessa Davis
Vanessa Davis is a Master's student in the Bush School of Government and Public Service