“Resist indulging in negative self-worth.” – Rich Roll

I review recent thoughts on the pervasive hopelessness invading our culture. After stumbling onto a recent reflection by Rich Roll, I couldn’t help but be impacted by his persistent hope promoting approach found in his work as a content creator, athlete, and human being. The reflection caused me to examine negative perceptions of my past and the murky vision of the future that I have insidiously slipped into. From a Health Psychology and Behavioural Medicine perspective, I walk through the work by Dr. Seligman and the Shuttle Box experiments. I reminded myself that we are all responsible for promoting hope in our lives to build our path forward, if not for ourselves, then for those around us. Today’s narrative is my journey in finding this conclusion.

Welcome to Episode 51: Promoting Hope

1. What We Do:
   
   • Behavioural Medicine and Health Psychology
     
   • Providing easily accessible content designed to help you design your own transformative experience.
     
   
   
2. Today:
   
   • Free flowing thoughts on the, “hopelessness” pandemic and taking responsibility for lighting your own path.
     
   • Means a brief discussion on learned helplessness, the Shuttle Box experiment, the current pandemic, global warming, and personal responsibility to be the change you dream.
     
   
   
3. Feedback?
   
   • Interview with Amy Robertson – Thanks for the amazing feedback.
     
   
   
4. Services Review:
   
   • Finding My Psych offers three core services focused on promoting physical, emotional, and spiritual wellness.
     
     • Foundations: Wellness Planning Workshop – Starts September 12th (4 weeks)
       
     • Walking For Vitality: Powering Up – Starts October 10th (4 weeks)
       
     • Running For Fitness: 5k Build-Up – Starts September 4th (12 Weeks)
       
     
     
   
   

The Current Problem (The Antithesis of Promoting Hope)

1. Doom Hungry Culture
   
   • We are attracted fear and worry – It’s energizing!
     
   
   
2. Addiction to Reliving Trauma
   
   • Fixating on trauma anchors us to the past.
     
   
   
3. Pandemic
   
   • Doom hunger made into reality, well beyond what we ever thought possible.
     
   
   
4. Promoted by Media
   
   • Advertising revenue model promotes and execrates.
     
     • Google Algorithm
       
     • Facebook Algorithm
       
     
     
   
   
5. Learned Helplessness: Dr. Seligman
   
   • Shuttle Box experiments
     
   • We give up – We have given up.
     
   
   

Taking Responsibility and Promoting Hope

1. We must stop looking to external forces (authority, governments, etc.) to fix us, our families, and society.
   
2. Two Important Quotes:
   
   • “Resist indulging in negative self-worth. Chart your course. Keep showing up. Stay the path. Toss out the timeline.” – Rich Roll
     
   • “Wallowing in trauma of the past while fearing the future, is a fast track to dysphoria, only relieved by dopamine inducing habits, admittedly brief, but effective.“
     
   
   
3. There will be no peace unless we take absolute and determined responsibility for the outcomes in our life.
   

Altering Your Path – Quick for Promoting Hope

• Reframe everything, everywhere.
  
• Stay away from the news.
  
• Focus on wellness over fixing the past – We already know this does not work (Inner Child Trauma Work).
  
  • The path to happiness is not fixing or reconciling the past.
    
  
  
• Do good work! Build your future one day at a time, even if you don’t see the outcome quite yet.
  
• Build a path forward, even if you don’t know where it leads (sometimes it is not what we expect).
  
• Focus on others over yourself (elevate others).