"Hope" is a magnificent state of mind. It reaches forward into the future and the unseen. Our task, is to trace the route back from the future to our present position and to work out the simple first steps. This can be a long journey, but it is rarely, if ever, a passive journey. We need to take action.

Today, I'd like to think about three "R"s that will most influence the effectiveness of our actions. They are "Resources", "Resourcefulness" and "Resilience". Most goal-setting guides talk about the importance of resources. To achieve goals we are likely to need the resources of time, money, people and the right skills. This much is rather obvious. But the key resource is resourcefulness.

I grew up as one of the "Blue Peter" generations. On every programme, there was guidance on how to create amazing gifts with little more than a washing-up liquid bottle, some tubes from toilet rolls and the ubiquitous "sticky back plastic". Of course, the key ingredient was imagination! The programme encouraged us to take what we had to hand and create something amazing with it. What a great lesson for life.

Rather than focus on what we don't have, perhaps it is time to look around and become more resourceful with what we do have.

And then there's resilience. The attitude that keeps us going when we want to quit. Resilience is a fruit of hope and faith. If we have a compelling vision of where we want to get to, we can often find the strength to keep going. If we believe that what we seek is good or meaningful or worthwhile, we can often tap into those inner resources that give use the strength to persevere.

So, as is so often the case, the question is, "where is our focus?" If our focus is on the problems (as I understand it needs to be sometimes), the result after a while is draining. If our focus is on the end result – what we hope for – our brain can often work on the unseen in the unseen! Magic can happen.

Let me close with words often attributed to the great Author, Goethe…

Then indecision brings its own delays,

And days are lost lamenting over lost days.

Are you in earnest? Seize this very minute;

What you can do, or dream you can do, begin it;

Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.

Lex

A Moodscope member.