Who you let in is so important.  One person at a party can dampen the mood.  One player on the court who doesn’t have the right attitude can disrupt the team’s chemistry.  One guitar player who thinks every song is a guitar solo can destroy the groove.  And one member of an inner circle who doesn’t have hope can destroy the momentum.

Hope is the most important characteristic you must demand of yourself and anyone in your community.  In fact, if you are struggling to have hope I encourage you to work through that before you even build your own Circle of 5.

Hope is not tied to your circumstance.  It’s not defined by money or possessions.  It’s tied to a belief in what your future holds.

My faith provides me with a lot of hope.  I believe in Heaven and eternal life.  That helps me be rooted in the chaos that life brings in various seasons.  Whether you have a religious faith or not, you have to place  hope in something. You have to surround yourselves with people who have hope in something, as well.

When you, or someone you let into your Circle of 5 does not have hope you cannot show up in a strong way.  You cannot effectively build your best life or the lives of the other people in your Circle.

Being full of hope doesn’t mean that every day is a good day.  In fact, even people of hope go through hard seasons.  But, it means you have a conviction that believes you have more life to live and dreams to achieve than the current circumstance offers.

When you let people without hope into your inner circle it becomes harder to look to your hope and easier to dwelling on the troubles of life (queue social media warning here). How do you discern hope in yourself or the people around you?  The best way is to listen.

People without hope tend to talk about their past more than their future.  They talk about their frustrations more than their opportunities.  They blame others for their circumstance more than taking responsibility for themselves.  People without hope tend to live in a negative and victim mindset 

(NOTE:  If you have been a victim of something, your best way to free yourself is with a trained counselor. A good counselor can help you see the things that hold you back and guide you through the process required to break free from the injustice that happened.  It takes a lot of work.  But, it is necessary to regain that true hope in your life.)

You’ll know when you encounter a person of hope.  They offer encouragement more than criticism.  They speak of their future more than their past.  When they discuss their past, it is constructive and they are not tied to it–they’re better for it.  They are clear that life is bringing more opportunities and they are taking action to get there.

You need to be a person of hope in order to build a Circle of 5 with people of hope.  If you’re struggling with having hope please reach out to me.  Let me know where you’re at. Perhaps you’ll be interested in our new community we will be launching soon to help prepare people to build their Circle of 5.  We can build a team together that will have the right mood, attitudes, grooves for building the momentum that comes from a community of hope.