Happiness Day needs to be about Hope for young people

Young people need to know that life is worth living and that their actions can create a positive shift. 

Why bother with hope?
Being hopeful is a key factor in wellbeing. Plus…

“Researchers have found that students who are high in hope have greater academic success, stronger friendships, and demonstrate more creativity and better problem-solving They also have lower levels of depression and anxiety and are less likely to drop out from school.” [1]

​Make space for far-fetched ideas
Inspire hope in young people by getting them to have far-fetched ideas to change the world and save the planet.

“Hope arises in dire circumstances in which people fear the worst yet yearn for better…Hope creates the urge to draw on one’s own capabilities and inventiveness to turn things around.”[2]

Before the innovation comes the invention. Before the invention comes the ideas.

We need every young person to know that having far-fetched ideas is the starting point of taking action to halt the current zero-sum game for people and planet.

Their hope starts with their creativity.
 
Global Citizens – The class of 2018
The GenZ young people that I talk to, as well as the Millennials, see themselves as ‘humans without geographic boundaries’ - a new era of global citizens wanting to take action on climate change, world peace and ending poverty.

We need our young people to be hopeful in their own capacity…not for someone else to swoop-in to save the day, but in their own capacity to take action for positive change, within their lives and communities.

NB: Do Things for Others sits in first place as Action for Happiness’ 10 Keys to Happier Living[3]
 
What can you do on Happiness Day to inspire hope?
Celebrate every young person, regardless of academic ability, as an agent of change.

Appoint each one as an innovator able to save the world by taking action through their unique creativity and strengths.

• Ask them to identify a problem that they care about – global, local, school, home.
• Connect it with them to the Sustainable Development Goals to make a global issue relevant within their lives.
• Ask them to freestyle far-fetched ideas about their problem.
• Every idea counts within the guidelines of no harm to people or planet.
• Build a visual wall of their problem-solving creativity.

 
Round off your Happiness Day by celebrating Hope as a character strength that every one of them has as a community of global citizens.
 
Wishing you a joyful, hopeful, awe-filled Happiness Day!