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Hope Is a Skill | George Mumford

Apr 12, 2021 52m 10s 44 insights
Spring is here. Vaccines are entering arms. But for many of us, hope can feel slippery and fleeting. Even with the pandemic seeming to abate, there's still a lot of uncertainty and suffering. That's why, starting today, we're launching a special two-week series on hope: what it is, what it isn't, and how and why to cultivate it. The word "hope" might feel vague, or gauzy–or even, given the current state of the world, misguided. And if you're using the commonly understood definition of hope, that might be true.  Many of us think about hope as wishing for some specific outcome or result: a raise, a promotion, a romantic entanglement, or a return to an exact replica of pre-pandemic living. We can get attached to these outcomes–and then get disappointed when they (inevitably) don't work out exactly as we'd hoped. But there is a way to hope wisely. And over the next two weeks, both here on the podcast and in the Ten Percent Happier app, we're going to teach you how. We've enlisted an all-star slate of Buddhist teachers, mindfulness experts, and scientists, who will make the case that hope is a skill. One you can get better at.  Today on the podcast, we've got the perfect guest to kick off our series. George Mumford is a personal friend and a much-loved contributor to the Ten Percent Happier app. Years ago, he overcame a heroin habit to become one of the nation's leading mindfulness teachers. He's worked with some of the world's top athletes, including Michael Jordan and the late Kobe Bryant. In today's episode, he's going to talk about his own tumultuous path towards hope, how it relates to the Buddhist idea of right action, and also a list he calls the Four A's. A quick heads up: in our conversation, George talks frankly about his aforementioned substance abuse, which might be a sensitive topic for some listeners. If you're a subscriber to the Ten Percent Happier app, you're going to want to check out our exclusive new "Hope is a Skill" content. We've got fresh meditations and talks on the subject -- just tap on the "Singles" and "Talks" tabs in the app to check them out, or click here (https://10percenthappier.app.link/HopeIsASkill). If you're not a subscriber, now's the time. In addition to the "Hope is a Skill" meditations, there are tons of resources for starting, rebooting, or deepening your meditation practice. Just download the Ten Percent Happier app today, for free, wherever you get your apps to get started: https://10percenthappier.app.link/download-app. Full Shownotes: https://www.tenpercent.com/podcast-episode/george-mumford-337
Actionable Insights

1. Choose Your Response Wisely

Align yourself with the natural lawfulness of the universe, knowing you can always choose your response in the space between stimulus and response, exercising freedom and power.

2. Practice the Four A’s

Cultivate awareness (clear seeing), acceptance (embracing what is), compassionate action (wise choices), and assessment (learning from outcomes) as an ongoing feedback loop for life’s challenges.

3. Shift from Fear to Love

Consciously move from fear mode (fight, flight, freeze) to love mode (rest, digest, openness, open heart, open mind) to enhance cognitive functioning and broaden your perspective.

4. Cultivate Wholesome Mind States

Recognize you are ‘wired for success’ and cultivate wholesome mind states by skillfully directing your attention, which helps you relate to situations wisely.

5. Prioritize Happiness for Success

Research suggests happiness precedes success; cultivate a positive mind state, open heart, and full presence to achieve better results.

6. Cultivate Joy in Present Moment

Practice ‘joy now and never’ by recognizing that in the present moment, there is inherently nothing wrong, allowing for immediate access to joy.

7. Hold Pain Without Identification

Experience pain and discomfort without identifying with it or making it worse by projecting negative future scenarios; instead, hold the pain with a sense of inner peace.

8. Investigate Fear’s Sensations

When fear arises, notice it without judgment, investigate its physical sensations in your body, and relate to the bare sensation without attaching to mental stories or negative scenarios.

9. Embrace Uncertainty, Generate Hope

Embrace uncertainty, illness, aging, and death by saying ‘yes’ to what is happening, then generate hope by deciding how to relate to the situation to bring more peace, ease, and understanding.

10. Find Meaning in Suffering

Transform suffering by finding meaning in it, understanding it as an opportunity to generate hope, find peace, and identify the compassionate action required.

11. Hope for Adaptability, Not Outcome

Cultivate hope not by fixating on specific outcomes, but by equipping yourself with the right mindset and skills to effectively deal with whatever arises.

12. Commit to the Process

Be hopeful and optimistic about the outcome, but commit to the process with right effort and persistence, using feedback to stay on target rather than quitting.

13. Manage Each Moment with Trust

Manage each moment with intention, trusting the process and maintaining ‘stick-to-itiveness’ to stay committed to your task regardless of external circumstances.

14. Focus on What Works

Shift your focus from pathology (what doesn’t work) to what does work, and then concentrate on sustaining those effective actions and strategies.

15. Reframe Hard as Challenge

Reframe ‘hard’ situations as ‘challenges’ or ‘opportunities,’ adopting the mindset of elite performers who seek lessons and growth in difficulties.

16. Choose Your Attitude

Assert your power to choose your attitude and how you relate to any situation, as this inner freedom cannot be taken from you unless you surrender it.

17. Practice Uncritical Self-Observation

Practice uncritical, mindful observation of your actions and urges without judgment, simply noticing what happens and how you feel, then learn from it to replicate desired behaviors.

18. Integrate Pockets of Stillness

Integrate ‘pockets of stillness’ into your daily life by taking moments to sit, breathe, and be fully present wherever you are.

19. Meditate on Strong Distractions

In meditation, if a strong distraction arises, shift your focus to the distraction itself, making it the object of meditation with awareness and acceptance, allowing it to rise and fade naturally.

20. Be Adaptable Like Water

Be adaptable like water; when an obstacle arises, accept it, shift your focus to what can be done, and say ‘yes’ to whatever happens to stay in the flow.

21. Practice Self-Love and Care

Engage in self-care (tending to physical, mental, emotional, spiritual needs), self-responsibility (responding to those needs), and self-respect (knowing and allowing your true essence to express itself).

22. Know Thyself, Be Thyself

Strive to know yourself deeply, which enables you to authentically be yourself, express yourself, and share yourself with the world.

23. Listen to Your Heart

Practice stillness and introspection to listen to your heart and discern what truly excites you, guiding your internal journey of self-discovery.

24. Honor Intellectual Needs

Honor your innate needs, such as intellectual stimulation, by engaging in practices like reading regularly and teaching, as teaching helps deepen your own learning.

25. Greet Mind with Friendliness

Greet all mental phenomena, including difficult emotions like meanness or jealousy, with friendliness and hospitality (awareness and acceptance) rather than aversion.

26. Practice Loving Kindness for Anxiety

If prone to anxiety and fear, practice loving kindness or compassion meditations to ‘warm the system up’ and cultivate a mindset of love rather than fear.

27. Appreciate Your Breath

Practice appreciation for the simple fact of being alive and breathing, recognizing that as long as you are breathing, there is more right with you than wrong.

28. See with Open Heart, Open Mind

Approach people and situations with an open heart and mind, seeing them from a place of love and embracing their essence without trying to change them.

29. Be Present in Difficult Moments

Even in moments of profound difficulty, choose to be present, loving, and use the moment for awareness, acceptance, and compassionate action.

30. Act with Awareness in Danger

Apply awareness and acceptance to immediate dangers, then take compassionate action to protect yourself, rather than getting stuck in fear or inaction.

31. Forgive Self, Learn from Actions

When you notice an unskillful action, practice compassionate action by forgiving yourself and learning from the experience.

32. Embrace Crisis as Opportunity

In times of crisis, embrace both danger and opportunity, using the situation to gain clarity, learn, express latent abilities, and practice mindfulness and wisdom to choose wisely.

33. Broaden and Build Positivity

Cultivate positive emotions and a positive mindset to broaden your perspective and enhance cognitive functioning, allowing you to access more ‘channels’ or resources for desired outcomes.

34. Hope Requires Right Action

Combine hope with action, making right effort, using right speech, and understanding the interconnectedness of self and others to move beyond the illusion of separateness.

35. Cultivate Mind of Love

Cultivate a mindset of love, openness, and willingness to see clearly and act compassionately, as this perspective fosters hope and optimism.

36. Direct Attention for Right View

Consciously direct your attention and program your mindset to cultivate ‘right view,’ which is a wholesome and accurate perspective.

37. Approach with Curiosity and Openness

When in ’love mode,’ approach situations with openness, rest, digestion, interest, and curiosity to better understand and relate to them.

38. Gain Conviction Through Experience

Gain conviction by having direct experiences of successfully navigating challenges, reinforcing the belief that you can overcome future difficulties by being still, understanding, and accepting.

39. Stay Focused on Present Action

Stay focused on what you are doing in the present moment, rather than getting caught up in evaluating ‘how you’re doing,’ to maintain engagement and effectiveness.

40. Mindful of Unmindfulness

Recognize that being mindful of your unmindfulness is itself a form of mindfulness, allowing you to observe distractions without judgment.

41. Distinguish Rational from Irrational Fear

Distinguish between rational and irrational fear, and when experiencing fear, recognize that it can hinder presence and genuine hope.

42. Cultivate Peace for Positive Scenarios

Cultivate peace, ease, and understanding to shift your mental scenarios from negative projections to positive possibilities, trusting that things will work out.

43. Be a Role Model for Hope

Be a role model by sharing your experiences and demonstrating that hope is a skill that can be generated and chosen, inspiring others to cultivate it.

44. Emulate Role Model Qualities

Find role models and focus on emulating their positive qualities or virtues (like love, curiosity, compassion, courage) to cultivate those skills within yourself.