Recently, I was talking with a client who comes back time and again for updates to his resume when he is ready to apply for a promotion. He said, “I’m back yet again because I trust you with my hope of landing this next promotion. You’ve helped me with every one of my promotions and I know I should be able to do this on my own by now, but I trust you more than me—and you always give me hope along the way.”
I don’t know why, but it struck me different to hear the word “hope” it the way he said it…and it’s hard to convey his tone in this writing, but it was just a little different.
Of course, I was very grateful for his kind words. I AM an eternal optimist, but I haven’t been able to stop thinking about what he said and how he said it.
According to the Dictionary, “hope” can be a noun or verb.
The noun:
- A feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen.
Example: “He looked through her belongings in the hope of coming across some information.”
- A feeling of trust.
Example: “Our private friendship, upon hope and affiance whereof, I presume to be your petitioner.”
The verb:
- Want something to happen or be the case.
Example: “He’s hoping for an offer of compensation.”
And here’s one definition:
“…to cherish a desire with anticipation: to want something to happen.”
I am thrilled to provide hope for my clients, but honestly, they give me hope.
Each of my clients truly make the world a better place. I love to brag about them because I truly feel honored to attract such great people to work with on their single, most-important career document—their resume—the foundation for all other career documents we do for them.
I enjoy writing about what they do in their jobs and businesses, all their accomplishments, and I’m in awe about their dedication to their craft…and to our country.
My continual goal is for my clients to be successful. I know they’ve worked hard in their careers and I work hard to showcase their value in their personal marketing.
I have clients who:
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- ✓ Are still on the frontlines of COVID working in hospitals, home health, assisted living facilities, and skilled nursing facilities.
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- ✓ Protect our air space.
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- ✓ Make sure the social security checks are accurate and mailed.
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- ✓ Deliver those checks.
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- ✓ Work behind the walls of the Pentagon.
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- ✓ Ensure our flying public are safe.
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- ✓ Make sure our food is safe.
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- ✓ Thwart cybersecurity threats.
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- ✓ Ensure our national parks remain pristine.
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- ✓ Drop everything and leave their families to get on scene for every natural disaster.
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- ✓ Are half-way around the world fighting for our freedom.
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- ✓ Are right here in the United States fighting for our freedom.
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- ✓ …and the list could go on and on and on.
My clients give ME hope every single day.
Speaking of HOPE… I’m reminded of this BRILLIANT school teacher…
This is a post that makes its way around Facebook and it’s the true meaning of hope.
“Every Friday afternoon Chase’s teacher asks her students to take out a piece of paper and write down the names of four children with whom they’d like to sit the following week. The children know that these requests may or may not be honored. She also asks the students to nominate one student whom they believe has been an exceptional classroom citizen that week. All ballots are privately submitted to her.
And every single Friday afternoon, after the students go home, Chase’s teacher takes out those slips of paper, places them in front of her and studies them. She looks for patterns.
Which student is not getting requested by anyone else?
Who doesn’t even know who to request?
Which student never gets noticed enough to be nominated?
Who had a million friends last week and none this week?
You see, Chase’s teacher is not looking for a new seating chart or “exceptional citizens.” Chase’s teacher is looking for lonely children. She’s looking for children who are struggling to connect with other children.
She’s identifying the little ones who are falling through the cracks of the class’s social life. She is discovering whose gifts are going unnoticed by their peers. And she’s pinning down- right away- who’s being bullied and who is doing the bullying.
As a teacher, parent, and lover of all children – I think that this is the most brilliant Love Ninja strategy I have ever encountered. It’s like taking an X-ray of a classroom to see beneath the surface of things and into the hearts of students.
It is like mining for gold – the gold being those little ones who need a little help – who need adults to step in and TEACH them how to make friends, how to ask others to play, how to join a group, or how to share their gifts with others. And it’s a bully deterrent because every teacher knows that bullying usually happens outside of her eyeshot – and that often kids being bullied are too intimidated to share. But as she said – the truth comes out on those safe, private, little sheets of paper.
As Chase’s teacher explained this simple, ingenious idea – I stared at her with my mouth hanging open. “How long have you been using this system?” I said.
Ever since Columbine, she said. Every single Friday afternoon since Columbine.
Good Lord.
This brilliant woman watched Columbine knowing that ALL VIOLENCE BEGINS WITH DISCONNECTION. All outward violence begins as inner loneliness. She watched that tragedy KNOWING that children who aren’t being noticed will eventually resort to being noticed by any means necessary.
And so she decided to start fighting violence early and often, and with the world within her reach.
What Chase’s teacher is doing when she sits in her empty classroom studying those lists written with shaky 11-year-old hands – is SAVING LIVES.
I am convinced of it. She is saving lives.
And what this mathematician has learned while using this system is something she really already knew: that everything – even love, even belonging – has a pattern to it. And she finds those patterns through those lists – she breaks the codes of disconnection. Then she gets lonely kids the help they need. It’s math to her. It’s MATH.
All is love – even math. Amazing.
Chase’s teacher retires this year – after decades of saving lives. What a way to spend a life: looking for patterns of love and loneliness. Stepping in, every single day- and altering the trajectory of our world.
TEACH ON, WARRIORS. You are the first responders, the front line, the disconnection detectives, and the best and ONLY hope we’ve got for a better world. What you do in those classrooms when no one is watching- it’s our best hope.”
Teachers. Teachers like this give me hope.
What else gives us hope?
Have you heard the saying that you are the ‘sum total’ of the people you surround yourself with? I have witnessed this first-hand and can say that when I am surrounded by uplifting, positive people, I am much more positive and productive. I see things optimistically and I notice a sense of continued hope. Not just hope once in a great while…but constantly.
If you surround yourself with constant negativity, condescending attitude toward others, and finding fault with everything, what do you think will happen in your life—let alone to those around you?
If you’re spiritual, perhaps praying gives you hope and inner peace.
We all know someone who is continually negative—the cranky pessimist who seems to bring out the worst in us at times…the one who can never seem to get past despair and hopelessness.
And we all know someone who is the life of the party—and never fails to let that personality shine. How do you feel when you are around that person? Do you feel excited? Motivated? Maybe it rubs off on you for a few days…but you always are left with that positive feeling, right?
Will people want to be around you?
I’ve always liked the advice of “Try not to be the smartest one in the room.” It has pushed me to learn and has embedded a love of constant learning. I’ve always been one to truly look for the silver linings in the bad…and the good. It wasn’t always that way. It does take a bit of work. I’ve had really great coaches over the years and it has become a way of life.
The most successful people know where to find hope.
Isn’t that interesting to think about? Life happens and it isn’t always the smooth straight line that we’d like it to be. We set goals and plot our way to achieving those, then life happens and we think we have missed out because we didn’t make the goal. But do we take the time to ponder why…and what happened? And most importantly, did we learn from it so we can do better?
According to thedailymeditation.com, “To be hopeful is to look on the future positively, to see opportunity in challenges (rather than challenges in opportunities), to look on the bright side of life. Hope is an optimistic state of mind based on the expectation of positive outcomes related to events and circumstances in one’s life or the world at large.”
What brings me hope?
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- • Being able to live another day – I lived through a tragic plane crash so I believe in second chances!
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- • My family – they truly are amazing humans!
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- • My friends – they truly are amazing humans! 😉
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- • The way my parents raised me – although they both have passed on, there isn’t a day go by that I’m not surrounded by their positive influence and example.
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- • Little children – and babies – their innocence and watching them learn.
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- • Purpose – knowing why I am doing something, who it is going to help, and why it will help.
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- • Freedom – we are so lucky!
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- • Music – musicians are a special gift to us.
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- • Nature – beautiful trees, birds chirping, stars, and nature in all it’s beauty.
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- • Cooking – I hope what I make turns out. 😉 I love to cook!
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- • You – I’m waiting to meet you and help you.
Why IS hope so important?
Hope brings a sense of peace, reduces helplessness and stress, and can even improve the quality of our lives. As summarized here, hope:
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- • Is a natural stress reliever.
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- • Motivates positive actions that lead to positive results.
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- • Helps strengthen the immune system.
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- • Improves social relationships.
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- • Makes ‘you’ happy.
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- • Broadens and builds your mind.
In fact, there is research in Psychology Today that confirms that hope is related to positive outcomes. Studies have shown that hope is related to academic achievement and professional success. Hope allows people to approach problems with a mindset and strategy-set suitable to success, thereby increasing the chances that they can accomplish their goals.
Hope allows people to APPROACH problems with a mindset…
Let me repeat that. Hope allows people to APPROACH problems with a mindset…
At CC Career Solutions, we talk a lot about approach here…because we are believers that how you approach your cover letter, federal resume, private-sector resume, LinkedIn profile, and your overall career, determines your outcome.
Once we educate our clients about a positive, strategic approach, the light bulbs start to go off, the a-ha’s become verbally expressed and all the sudden they get it—and are now EXCITED ABOUT THEIR FUTURE!
With the right approach to your career, stress is reduced, time is saved, money is not wasted, and the outcome can be AMAZING…and in most cases, even more than you ever anticipated!
Do you need help with your approach to your career? Let’s chat.
Do you need help with your approach to your federal resume? Join us for our free workshop.
We want to sit by you.
We have strategic approaches and solutions for every step of your career and would love to instill the hope (and strategy) you need for your next best move!
Please know that you can always find (more than) hope here.
What is your hope? Comment below and let me know!
For more than 25 years, I've been trusted by all levels of professionals to senior executives in the Federal Government to collaborate with them and strategize, coach, and write not only their single most important document—the resume—but all of their career marketing that propels them upward in the ranks of the Federal Government and private sector. And, I would love to meet you and help you with yours! Thank you for stopping by!
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