Find your inner hero

If you find that you are in need of a boost right now, due to the pressures of being an entrepreneur in this strange period of time, then help is at hand. Recent psychology research has identified four psychological states, ‘hero qualities’, that when combined can boost our resilience and our ability to cope with whatever life throws at us. These hero qualities are hopefulness, self-efficacy (our belief in our abilities), resilience, and optimism. It makes sense doesn’t it - if we find our sense of hope sinking because all we read in the news is worrying, then we need a good boost from our hero qualities. And we can change our psychological states as we need. For example, to stay hopeful, we need to focus on the future, to keep planning ahead, to set targets and goals. Research suggests that if we stay optimistic, and look to the future instead of dwelling on the things we cannot change, we are more likely to bounce back from tough times. The hero quality of resilience means that when we encounter failure, we can pick ourselves up and try again. Ultimately, if we embrace all our inner hero qualities, they will give us the boost we need to not just cope, but to thrive.