Want to be more Hopeful in 2022?

We are 5 days into 2022 and I am already exhausted. There are not just one but two new variants of Coronavirus amongst us. Things are closing back down, lockdown vibes are amongst us. And so on.

Also, saying “2022” is a tongue twister in itself. Ugh.

You get my point. Am not excited. Just anxious.

My therapist says that the other end of anxiety is hope. Not happiness, not stress-less lives, but hope.

Hope.

Your life doesn’t need to be simple. The world doesn’t need to be simple.

But, you need hope.

So, how do you build hope in your life?

I trust that the answer lies in the answer to three key questions.

1. How do I find my people?

I am a misfit. I did superb at school, sucked at sports, and had 2 friends. I didn’t like makeup or talking about boys. I hated gossip. I loved thinking of big ideas and imagining how I would travel the world and do something meaningful. But I had no one I could talk to about any of this. I didn’t belong.

When it came to building the School of Future community, I knew what I wanted more than anything else. I wanted kids to have a space where they could belong and feel less fear because someone has their back. A space where they could feel challenged and accepted.

SoFers (any student at SoF) can tell you what it feels like to belong to a community. What it feels like to shoot for something big and to actually get it. What it feels like to have people cheering you on rather than tearing you down. What it feels like to genuinely, truly belong.

2. How do I achieve big things?

We ask a lot of our students. We don’t just want them to imagine. We want them to do. Why? What does it even matter if a 14 year old actually launches a business? Who even cares?

I care. As a teenager, your exposure and level of thinking can be shaped and grown exponentially. Your brain’s ability to learn decreases as you grow older - think of it as a sponge that’s getting used everyday. The sponge looks a lot different at 30 than at 13.

Imagine doing stuff like conducting interviews with influencers, talking to users for a potential product, dreaming up a period program for your school that gets implemented across the district, running a team, learning another language from a peer, meeting people from around the world and loving them more than your friends around you. And, SoFers got into awesome universities like UC Davis, ASU, Northern Arizona University (full ride), University of Waterloo, etc.

The exposure matters. It shifts who you are and makes you more of who you dream of being. You should care too.

Be wildly ambitious - scare yourself with your ambition. Trust me. Elon Musk wasn’t born as Elon Musk. Build yourself. Invest in yourself. Become the YOU that you imagine in your wildest, most ambitious, crazy dreams. We need more dreamers.

Here’s some epic examples of big wins:

1. Armita made it to Forbes (Canadian, 17);

2. Nashville was on the SA Radio (South African, 17);

3. Charan released his 2nd book (Indian, 14);

4. Ibukun became an author (English, 18);

5. Sagnik collaborated with businesses around the world - here’s a fun film for you (Indian, 16);

6. Kevin’s business got accepted into an incubator (Swiss, 17);

7. Ana was featured in a well recognised newspaper in Brazil for her work with the Deaf Community (Brazilian, 18); …and the list goes on and on.

3. How do I find my purpose?

My best advice: When heartbreak rings, answer the door.

The magic of heartbreak is that each person’s doorbell rings in response to something specific. What rings your bell? Is it racial injustice? Bullying? Animal cruelty? Hunger? War? The environment? Kids with cancer? What is it that affects you so deeply that whenever you encounter it, you feel the need to look away? Look there. Where is the pain in the world that you just cannot stand? Stand there. The thing that breaks your heart is the very thing you were born to help heal. Every world changer’s work begins with a broken heart.

These words are from one of my favourite books from 2021. Untamed, by Glennon Doyle.

We all live in a world where it’s so easy to check out. After all, mindlessly scrolling on instagram is the global time-pass, along with watching Netflix :D (p.s. Am a massive manga fan, if you have reccos for good ones, feel free to reply). Getting back to the point - Don’t check out. Please don’t check out. The world needs you. Maybe not the you that’s there, but the you that is meant to be there.

Your ability to see the world uniquely matters, and it’s insanely important that you know that, see that, and build that for yourself.

So, what are you hopeful for in 2022? Share with us and we will feature the best three responses on our social media. Let’s spread some hope all across the world.