It Begins with Hope
Hope. Without it, you might never apply for that job that could change your life. You might never sign up for that dating app that could lead you to love. And you might never start that health journey that could save your life. Hope is powerful. But hope isn’t just an emotion—it’s a mindset.
When we lose hope, we stop taking action toward what we desire. We become complacent. That job you dread feels even more suffocating when you believe you’ll never escape it. A walk in a beautiful place can feel lonely if you think you’ll always walk alone. And neglecting your health affects not just your body, but your mind.
To see possibilities, we need hope. And when our vision becomes cloudy, we need one simple word—yet.
A New Mindset
If you’ve had a child in school in the past decade, you may have heard of the term “growth mindset.” I first learned about it from my mother, a schoolteacher at the time. She had been using it with her students and shared the concept with me when I was in my 30s, struggling with the regret of never finishing my college degree. “You don’t have your degree—yet,” she said. “The power of yet! I’m going to send you a video.”
That video was a TedX talk by Carol Dweck, a researcher who studied the difference between students with fixed mindsets and those with growth mindsets. The results were staggering. Students who embraced challenges and believed they could improve through effort performed far better than those who believed intelligence and ability were fixed traits.
A-Ha!
As a mother, I immediately thought about how I could apply this to my child’s life and education. And then I wondered– would my outcome have been different if I was taught this mindset as a child? Thoughts of regret flooded in. What might I have become? What might I have accomplished? I’d definitely have my degree, I thought. And then it hit me. “What if— it’s not too late?”
Life throws a few “A-ha moments”, as the great Oprah Winfrey calls them, that clearly divide our lives into a before and an after. For me, this was one of those moments. From the moment that video ended, the word “yet” became a constant in my mind. Any time I caught myself saying I couldn’t do something, I simply added the word yet.
At 45, I often think about the years ahead. My grandfather, now approaching 97, is still active and healthy. If I take care of myself, I could have half a century of life left. I imagine how silly it would be to look back from the age of 97, regretting things I assumed were out of reach when I still had decades ahead of me.
So, I went back to school and chose a field I once thought was impossible to start at my age—computing. It wasn’t a walk in the park to say the least. The concepts felt impossible to wrap my head around at times. Sometimes I found myself in group projects where my fellow group members had moms who graduated high school the same year as I did. I felt old, and out of place.
There were plenty of moments I wanted to quit (full disclosure: there were a couple of times I actually did), but I reminded myself that I am worthy of new beginnings. That just because I didn’t understand a concept yet, didn’t mean I wouldn’t. That if I stuck with it, and I worked hard enough, I could pass that that test, or that class. And at 45, after a lot of sleepless nights, I graduated cum laude— because I embraced a growth mindset.
New Beginnings
What haven’t you done yet that you dream of doing? Where haven’t you been to yet that is at the tippy-top of your bucket list?
Some things in life are just plain hard. You may fail the first time—maybe even the second, third, or fourth. And some things, like finding love, are more complex and not entirely within our control. But when it comes to the dreams and ambitions within your reach, adding “yet” can change everything.
It’s never too late for new beginnings. Sign up for that class you’ve been thinking about. Start planning that dream trip, even if you don’t know when you’ll take it. Give yourself permission to dream big—and dream out loud. Each new day is an opportunity to move closer to your dreams. You’re just not there—yet.
