IN THIS MODULE
Going deeper into hope, you will discover two additional layers of hope: WhyPower and WePower (Colla et al., 2022). Hope is not just about what we are doing or how we are doing it. It is also about why it matters and who is with us. WhyPower is the deeper meaning behind your goals, including understanding your past experiences and finding purpose to guide your actions. WePower recognises that hope is stronger when shared with others, such as friends, partners, or community support.
WhyPower: The Heart Behind the Goal
What is WhyPower?
WhyPower is the deeper meaning behind your goals. It’s the thing that excites you and gets you out of bed; it is the reason you keep going even when the path gets hard.
Hope and meaning are inseparable. As we learned previously, goals are the foundation of hope, and hope is an active, goal-oriented way of thinking. Meaning gives energy to hope; they feed each other (Colla et al., 2022). Think back to a goal you were really passionate about or excited about. Somewhere inside that goal is something that gives you meaning — identifying this allows you to move toward a new goal with a greater sense of purpose.
When your goals are tied to something that truly matters to you, your hope becomes much harder to shake. If you know the why that’s driving you, then you’re able to stoke the flame, making it even easier to get from one place to another. This is the power of meaning.
Two Parts of WhyPower
WhyPower has two major components (Colla et al., 2022). The first component is comprehension: giving you a sense of what makes you tick. It is the process of looking back, across the good and the bad, and saying, “This is what I have been through, and this is what those experiences have taught me”. This is not to suggest that every hard experience has something positive we can learn from it. Nonetheless, when you are able to identify the strengths and values that have sustained you through your journey, you build your belief in your capacity to move toward new goals (WillPower) and your sense of worth. Likewise, when you’re able to look back and see what strategies or pathways did and didn’t work, you strengthen your WayPower.
The second component is purpose. Purpose acts like a compass, providing you with structure and direction. Having looked back across your journey, purpose allows you to actively pursue goals that reflect who you are. It helps you decide where to put your energy and what matters enough to persist through difficulty.
Why This Matters for You
For people living with a neurological disorder or chronic health condition, WhyPower is especially clarifying. It asks deep questions of us: What gives my life meaning right now? What matters most to me, even when so much has changed?
Perhaps meaning — the why behind your goal — might be that you want to be a great partner or have the ability to participate in sports with your kids. Maybe you gain a great sense of meaning from contributing to the common good, or from living out your values authentically.
There are no small questions or ideas. However, when you connect to that sense of meaning, you will be anchored in ways far deeper than through pure goal setting.
At Mastering Mountains, we encourage you to explore your WhyPower. Not as a task to complete, but as a way of staying connected to what truly nourishes and motivates.
“Strong lives are those that are marked by a sense of purpose, connectedness, resilience, and fulfillment.”
WePower: Hope Is Better Together
What Is WePower
WePower is the recognition that hope is not meant to be carried alone. In community with others, there is the strength we can draw that gives us hope: the comfort of a friend who listens; the steady presence of a partner who shows up; the encouragement of a clinician who truly sees you (Colla et al., 2022). Sometimes hope comes from within us. But often, it comes from someone who holds hope for us, even when we are too tired to hold it for ourselves.
What WePower Looks Like in Everyday Life
Imagine your goal is to complete an outdoor mission, but you are struggling with fatigue or experience low motivation. WePower might look like reaching out to a friend who can walk alongside you, joining a peer-support group that cheers you along, or connecting with a healthcare professional who can offer guidance. Drawing on community for support can make all the difference.
Why WePower Matters for You
For those navigating neurological disorders or chronic illness, WePower matters deeply. All too often, isolation can creep in quietly. Sometimes we experience a little less energy to reach out and it feels like a little too much effort to connect. But connection, even small moments of it, can rekindle the flame of hope. Reaching out is not always easy, but when you do, you may find that others are more than willing to walk beside you.
WePower also works both ways. Sometimes being the one who offers hope to someone else, through a kind word or a listening ear, can strengthen your own hope in surprising ways.
Reference
Colla, R., Williams, P., Oades, L. G., & Camacho-Morles, J. (2022). “A New Hope” for Positive Psychology: A dynamic systems reconceptualization of hope theory. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 809053. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.809053
Fox, J. (2009). Your Child’s Strengths: Discover Them, Develop Them, and Help Them Play to Their Strengths. Viking.