I half-sit in bed in a sleepy state and let the thoughts pass through my mind.

Mostly, I am not even aware of what thoughts are crossing my mind, but now and then I see sparks. Like the one that comes out of a fairy’s magic wand and I sit up a little bit straight and make a mental note of it.

Author John Brandon calls them the ‘hope moments’.

Think of hope moments as those small, delightful insights in the morning that come from somewhere beyond ourselves. — John Brandon

I had never heard of the term ‘hope moments’ before reading John Brandon’s book 7-Minute Productivity Solution.

Brandon suggests capturing them before the realities of the day crush them.

A hope moment could be a fleeting thought that someone has called you for a job opportunity.

Or it could be the thought that you will meet someone special and end up marrying them.

You might wake up with an idea or insights or a plain old wish.

What a great feeling such thoughts bring.

They are like a spark or a light bulb, filling you up with hope because it’s not based on realistic expectations.

We all need hope in our lives. More than goals.

It’s important to mull over the joys and sorrows of life, but what we need most in our lives is — hope.

You could argue that hope is the opposite of a goal.

Hope is what could be; a goal is what must be.

Hope has no limits, a goal is confined and specific that must be tracked.

Goals are great, but hope should take precedence over goals and should drive us.

Hope fills us with drive and passion, whereas a goal is a limited and short-term undertaking.

Hope can help us overcome incredible suffering and disappointment, whereas a goal gives us an objective to finish a marketing report by dinner.

Start the day with hope.

We have more hope in the mornings before the cold hard truth settles in.

Hope moments occur before we reach for our mobile phones and start checking the news and social media notifications.

Most of us start the day with brilliant ideas, new insights, and a wonderful outlook.

Is it possible to maintain that attitude all day?

Yes, it is, by writing down the ‘hope moments,’ so that we don’t lose them when the day sets in.

Recording them helps connect the dots between what we do today and the purpose in life.

By recording hope moments, you’re making sure you’re aware of the patterns and connections in your life that lead to fulfillment. The word fulfillment means the achievement of something desired.

Not knowing where you are going, what you are doing, or why you are doing, it is the opposite of fulfillment. It leads to burnout, distracted living, and hopelessness.

Sometimes, big ambitions seem unattainable.

It’s important to step aside from our goals occasionally so that we can evaluate our bigger ambitions and decide if they are really worth attaining. — Charles Duhigg

The morning routine is not meant for mere goal setting and task allocation. It’s a way to ponder the day in an unstructured way.

When we write our ambitions and hopes in a journal, we’re attempting to catalyze the ambitions we have into attainable, bite-sized nuggets that are far more achievable — life setting, not goal setting.

A plan to turn my ‘hope moment’ into reality

I captured a ‘hope moment’ this morning — Wouldn’t it be nice if I had finished all the projects I started this year. Then I will be ready to greet the new year with a clean slate.

As the thought crossed my mind, I immediately got energized. Maybe it is possible to finish all the unfinished projects of this year. My mind immediately started making plans. I reached for a pen and pad and made a list:

• Finish writing the book that I started in January this year.
• Compile a mini-guide I had scheduled for December.
• Draw 122 sketches that I missed drawing in the daily diary.
• Write and publish 15 articles on Medium (that’s an article a day + 3 more)
• Write 3 newsletters scheduled for this month.

These were my unachieved goals. But by seeing them as ‘hope moments’ they suddenly become plausible.

• The 15 articles I am writing could become the chapters of the book. 122 sketches are just 12 sketches a day.
• It will take me two days to write the mini-guide.
• I have already started working on the newsletters. Besides, I can keep them short because readers are busy with Christmas and holidays.
• I take 5 minutes to draw a sketch. I can knock six in half an hour. If I do two sessions, all the sketches will be done too.

I may not achieve all these, but they certainly make me feel excited.

It is possible to maintain a high level of hope throughout the day.

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