HOPE SCIENCE Pt 2—WHEN IT ALL FEELS HOPELESS: How to Flip Fear-Based Goals, the Obama Effect, How Hope Saved $61M—and Could Save Us All

I used to hate uncertainty. Whenever things felt hard, I’d assume they’d always be this hard. Like something in my brain just decided: this is how it is now. Forever.But one therapist, one sentence, one metaphor about tenuousness changed how I see it. This episode is about that shift—and how we can train ourselves to make it.Because hope isn’t about blind optimism. It’s about having a goal, believing you can get there, and finding a way forward—even if the path keeps changing. And if you know how to use it, you’ll get results.In Part 2 of my conversation with Dr. Chan Hellman, we talk about what it actually looks like to use hope as a tool when everything feels like it’s falling apart.We talk about:✅ A small decision Chan made during the pandemic that changed everything✅ The reality of fear-based goals and how to flip them✅ Why one of the most hopeful systems Chan has studied isn’t a person—it’s a bureaucracy✅ The unexpected way hope spreads through movements, teams, and recovery groups✅ What happened when Chan tracked down the teacher who unknowingly saved his lifeAnd then I break it all down in this week’s How-To segment, including:→ How to use the GAP formula to fix stuck projects, relationship tension, or anything that feels off→ The three questions to test if your goal is actually working for you→ Why relationships don’t fail from lack of effort—they fail from missing roadmaps→ And how to spot a pathways problem in disguise (plus what founders and high-performers tend to get wrong)This one left me thinking a lot about how we set goals, how we show up for each other, and what kind of future we actually believe we’re allowed to imagine.— MollyConnect with Chan:Website / LinkedIn / TED Talk / Book: Hope Rising📬 Get the takeaways straight to your inbox. My newsletter What I Wish I Knew shares all the research + tools I use in my own life. Sign up at mollykawahata.com/join🔗 View the full show notes at mollykawahata.com/podcast🎥 Video episodes available on YouTubeFollow here for more!YouTube | Instagram | TikTok | LinkedInTimestamps:00:00 Navigating Uncertainty: A Personal Reflection05:05 Understanding Hope: A Framework for Change06:58 Using Hope as a Tool: Personal Stories and Strategies10:38 The Role of Goals in Restoring Hope15:25 Fear and Hope: Coexisting Forces19:06 Collective Hope: Building Community Resilience24:00 Building a Hope-Centered Organization26:57 The Power of Hope in Mental Health30:01 Hope as a Framework for Overcoming Obstacles33:00 Cultivating Personal Hope in Challenging Times35:59 The Role of Relationships in Nurturing Hope37:00 The How-To: The GAP AnalysisSend us Fan Mail