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 life

And 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.

— Molly

Connect with Chan:

Website / LinkedIn / TED Talk / Book: Hope Rising

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Timestamps:

00:00 Navigating Uncertainty: A Personal Reflection

05:05 Understanding Hope: A Framework for Change

06:58 Using Hope as a Tool: Personal Stories and Strategies

10:38 The Role of Goals in Restoring Hope

15:25 Fear and Hope: Coexisting Forces

19:06 Collective Hope: Building Community Resilience

24:00 Building a Hope-Centered Organization

26:57 The Power of Hope in Mental Health

30:01 Hope as a Framework for Overcoming Obstacles

33:00 Cultivating Personal Hope in Challenging Times

35:59 The Role of Relationships in Nurturing Hope

37:00 The How-To: The GAP Analysis

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