How to Build Hope with a Positive Psychology Skill: Shifting Perspective

Introduction: Our internal state determines our experience

As the Talmud says, “We don’t see things as they are. We see them as we are.” How we see and respond differently to the same object has been the subject of philosophy and psychology for a long time. In my book, Learned Hopefulness, I’ve written about how our experiences color the lens through which we look at life. Over time, we may no longer even realize that we are watching a certain movie from our mind or looking at the world through tinted glasses. We just accept that that’s the movie we have to watch. Just as the explorations of who you despise and who you admire showed, our experience and attention inform our reactions.

Shifting perspective: a fundamental skill

In positive thinking psychology research, learned hopefulness is continually shifting perception toward something more hopeful. Shifting perspective is the fundamental skill for each of the seven decisions. Once we realize there is another way of seeing something, we have a choice as to how it is perceived. When something happens to put us in a bad mood, it’s like our brain telling us to look at the world as if it were barren.

But when we are invited to shift our perception just slightly and look at it through a different lens, something changes. We see the world differently, with more positivity, and respond to it in kind. What you were looking at never changed—you just looked at it differently. You changed your perspective. This leads to seeing the world in a more hopeful way. We can’t change what we see, but we can choose how we perceive it. The willingness to do this is essential if you want to change how you feel.

Have you ever been going through a difficult time and heard lyrics of a song jump out at you because they were so relevant to your situation? Our inner world is constantly informing not only what and how we see, but also what we hear and feel. You may have heard that song a thousand times, but now you hear it differently. Our internal state creates not only an expectation of what we will pay attention to but how it is interpreted.

What do you expect to see?

Our thoughts form our perspective of the world because they create an expectation. Optimists and pessimists both cultivate patterns of expectations. Our experience is informed by what we expect to attend to. 

The power of expectation

It’s almost as if we are responding to a form of self-hypnosis. Research about hypnosis shows how powerful expectations are. In one study, subjects were hypnotized and told they were going to be touched very briefly with a hot coal. The researchers then touched the subjects with an ice cube. Immediately the participants formed a blister where they were touched. Anticipating something bad was going to happen put them in a state where they felt they had to protect themselves—even when there was no need to—and there were consequences. And the power of expectation works both ways. Under hypnosis, subjects allergic to various substances can inhibit a reaction when told they are not affected.

In these studies, the stimulus was perceived differently, based on what was expected. An ice cube can cause a blister if it is expected to burn us, and an allergic reaction can be neutralized if the allergen is perceived as harmless. 

What has emerged from the research and practice of positive interventions is that they are cumulative. We learn to continually seek out a way to view the world through a different lens. The goal is to accumulate moments in which hope emerges as a natural outcome. 

To get unstuck, first notice that you’re stuck

You’ve probably experienced that hopeless feeling of being stuck with a recurring, ruminating negative thought. Some event triggers a negative loop that becomes more and more difficult to shake. When our negative emotions hijack us, it keeps our rational side from making better decisions on how to think, feel, and act. 

Stopping this is a good beginning. This is what we’ve been learning with the exercises so far; they’ve been aimed at untangling you from old patterns so you can see overlooked possibilities and unrealized potential. If you’ve been doing these exercises, you are likely to be feeling a bit more hopeful. 

To turn these insights into an ongoing change in your perception, you first have to believe that a change is possible. To believe that a change is possible, you need to know that how you are looking at something is a choice—a decision is being made. This is what we practiced in the previous chapter. 

Conclusion: To change our thoughts to hopeful ones, we must notice them

Now you’re ready to bring your skills up to the next level. It’s one thing to observe, change perception, and challenge your negative thoughts—but quite another to positively influence your thoughts, feelings, and perceptions. When you learned how to drive a car or ride a bike, the skills needed to slow down and stop were different from those required to change direction and pick up speed. Slowing down and stopping won’t get you to your destination. In the same way, slowing down and stopping a depressed mindset isn’t the same as being happy. We need to learn other skills too.

Now we are going into the very heart of understanding how thoughts change. They change when they are noticed. This is at once an ancient secret and the most exciting new topic for research. 

Becoming mindful of our thoughts and actions may be the most direct way to initiate hope.