How Hope Affects ADHD + Steps & Strategies To Rebuild Hope
Most people don’t associate ADHD with hope, but they should. This episode explores the science behind hope as a cognitive process. Drawing on research I look at how hope is built, how it functions in the brain, and how it can get eroded by chronic adversity, especially for people with ADHD and AuDHD.
If you’ve been struggling with follow-through, feeling stuck, or wondering why things feel harder than they “should,” this is an episode that explains why — plus how you can cultivate hope!
In episode 50, we’re talking about:
Defining hope: what it is, rethinking hope, how it works in the brain
Core components of hope (hope theory)
Things that make hope challenging for ADHD adults
6 steps to rebuild hope
7 strategies to improve hope for ADHD and AudHD adults
This is an exploration of real, evidence-based work, with a lens on how it applies to people living with attention, motivation, and executive functioning differences.
Listen below, stream it on your favorite podcasting app, or scroll to access the full blog post.
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What Is Hope, Really?
So, what is hope, according to science?
Hope is a cognitive process. This means it’s not just a feeling, but a way of thinking — a mental framework.
Here’s the working definition: “The belief that the future will be better than today, and that we have the power to make it so.”
That second part, “we have the power to make it so”, is key to this being a cognitive process and not just a wish.
Hope is taking action toward a better outcome.
If hope were just a feeling, we could only manage it. But because it’s a cognitive process, it can actually be taught.
This is also how Dr. Hellman distinguishes hope from positive thinking or Pollyanna optimism. Hope is actionable. It moves. It has components.
Let’s talk about those.
Rethinking the Meaning of Hope
Instill Hope First
Dr. Edward Hallowell, one of the leading voices in ADHD treatment, focuses on instilling hope.
He emphasizes that many people with ADHD reach treatment having already lost confidence and hope.
So, the very first therapeutic priority is not medication, strategies, or productivity hacks — it’s rekindling hope.
As Hallowell states, “Hope is the fuel that drives strategy.” “Hope is not a strategy itself. But without hope, no strategy gets used.”
This framework alone changes the way we think about how people with ADHD get help — and why so many interventions fail when they don’t address the hopelessness sitting underneath executive dysfunction.
Hope is Possibility
Dr. Chan Hellman, Professor at the University of Oklahoma and Director of The Hope Research Center, works with people dealing with trauma, homelessness, and food insecurity. People who are in an active state of survival.
This isn’t the voice of someone who’s had an easy life telling others to “just try harder.”
Dr. Hellman’s work was shaped by a conversation with a homeless kid living with HIV.
The kid talked a lot about the future, even while living in extreme hardship. He enrolled in a community college and he had many plans for himself.
That moment changed Dr. Hellman’s thinking…
He realized that for most of his career, all his studies focused on “what’s wrong with you.” That deficit-based lens and the psychological toll it takes.
That kid taught him to consider these questions:
What is right with you?
What strength do you have that will help you navigate trauma and adversity?
That single shift — from pathology to possibility — became the foundation of his research on hope.
The 3 Components of Hope Theory
Originally developed by American psychologist Charles R. Snyder, Hope Theory is made up of three core components:
1. Goals
These are the things we want to achieve. The future we desire. They drive our strategies and our motivation.
Goals can be short-term or long-term, big or small. We’re all pursuing goals every day — whether we name them or not.
2. Pathways Thinking
This is our ability to see and plan different ways to achieve those goals. It’s the strategy part. This includes identifying barriers and solving problems.
3. Willpower (Agency)
This is the motivational piece. It’s the attention and intention we direct toward pursuing those pathways.
Now, willpower takes mental energy, especially during adversity.
Here’s where it gets more nuanced:
Willpower without pathways is just a wish.
You might have the strategies — the pathways — but if you don’t have the energy or mental capacity to use them, they don’t activate.
How These Components of Hope Work Together
Hope requires both pathways and willpower. Without one, the other doesn’t work.
In day-to-day conversation, we often use “hope” passively, and the below examples are known as ‘avoidant goals’:
“Hope you have a good weekend.”
“Hope it doesn’t rain tomorrow.”
“Hope I don’t mess up my presentation.”
With avoidant goals, you're hoping to avoid a bad outcome, rather than pursuing a desired one. These goals are linked to reduced motivation and decreased hope.
Real hope is intentional and active.
For the example above about not messing up on a presentation, instead you would…
Have intent behind it and think ‘I hope to write an amazing speech’.
With this intent, you would define the specifics of this more…what would an amazing speech or presentation look like to you?
Identify problems or barriers (with the speech, let’s say you’re worried about losing your place, for example)
Prepare solutions to the barriers in advance, i.e. write a couple funny jokes if you mess up or lose your place in the presentation.
All of this creates full intent with a plan about writing and delivering an amazing presentation/speech. This is hope. It’s intentional and moves us toward a goal instead of trying to avoid discomfort and failure.
It moves us toward a goal. It’s not the same as just trying to avoid discomfort or failure.
The Science of Hope: Willpower Connected To Lower Glucose Levels
One of the most important things to understand about hope — especially in the context of executive functioning — is that willpower is a limited resource.
It’s not a fixed trait or personality quality. It’s tied to your mental and physical energy, and it runs out.
Willpower gets depleted by:
Stress
Emotional strain
Decision fatigue (a type of ADHD paralysis)
Mental overload
It doesn’t just fade gradually — willpower drops sharply when your energy system is tapped out.
This is where glucose comes in.
Think about what people with ADHD and AuDHD do a lot, which is forget to eat, or eat at strange times.
Interestingly, there is a strong connection to glucose dropping (due to difficulties eating) and the impact it has on willpower and self-regulation.
Glucose is our source of energy, which we primarily get from carbohydrates - fruit, vegetables, grains, legumes, sugar. (Once you eat, your digestive system breaks carbohydrates down into glucose, which enters the bloodstream and is distributed to your cells for energy).
And when glucose starts to be depleted, so does our willpower.
Your brain uses glucose (and it burns through it in real-time) every time you:
Think
Make a decision
Control an impulse
Solve a problem
The brain uses roughly 20% of your body’s energy at rest. It’s a glucose-demanding organ.
When glucose runs low, one of the first functions to be affected is self-regulation, the exact thing we rely on for activating pathways and sustaining hope.
This Isn’t Just About Being Tired; It’s Biochemical
When your glucose levels dip, so does your capacity to focus, make decisions, inhibit unhelpful behavior, and follow through on intentions.
That’s why nutrition, hydration, and regular breaks are practical strategies, not just wellness fluff.
For people with ADHD, this depletion can hit even faster, especially during times of stress or task switching, where the brain is already burning more fuel to stay on track.
This is something to be aware of and consider when you are feeling hopeless, or unable to plan. You might simply just need to check in with yourself to see if you’ve eaten something.
This can be a big part of having hope - getting your willpower and self-regulation in check so you can think straight and be intentional with hope.
Things That Can Impact Hope, Leading To Hopelessness
1. Adversity, Trauma & Stress
Adversity, trauma, and chronic stress lower a person’s ability to access or maintain hope. That impact is measurable and well-documented in psychological and neurological research.
People exposed to long-term stress or threat often develop patterns that change your brain - interfering with hope-based thinking.
This can include:
Difficulty trusting others
Persistent expectations of danger or betrayal
A defensive mental stance
High emotional and physical reactivity
Chronic or toxic shame
Fear of losing control
Guardedness in relationships
A hard time expressing or even recognizing positive emotions
These patterns develop through long exposure to threat, stress, or emotional harm.
This shapes how people connect, interpret experiences, and think about what’s possible. That directly affects the mental space where hope operates.
In this state, many people fall into repetitive thought loops (rumination), which keep problems mentally active without moving toward resolution.
Rumination uses up mental energy, making it harder to form goals, visualize different outcomes, or act with intention.
That’s where hope begins to break down — not as a feeling, but as a cognitive function.
2. Trauma Responses
Trauma interferes with a person’s ability to plan, imagine the future, or set meaningful goals.
It often leads to internal responses like shame, guilt, self-blame, and social withdrawal — all of which block forward movement.
In these moments, many people shift toward avoidance goals, which we talked about earlier…
“Don’t fail.”
“Don’t get it wrong.”
“Don’t make it worse.”
“Don’t get lost.”
During a crisis or burnout, the brain often can’t engage in long-term thinking.
The question “What do you want a year from now?” doesn’t land.
The relevant question becomes: “What can I do right now to get through the next few hours?”
That narrowing of focus is a protective mechanism. It’s part of how the brain functions under strain.
It also limits the ability to think in terms of future outcomes, goal-setting, or strategy — all essential components of hope.
3. Urgency Blocks Pathway Thinking
When the nervous system is in a state of urgency, there’s a shift away from strategic thinking.
This state of urgency, common in people with ADHD, leads to:
Impulsivity
Short-term decision-making
Collapse of executive planning
Hope requires the ability to think through options, consider trade-offs, and weigh potential outcomes.
However, when urgency takes over, the brain focuses on immediate resolution, not long-term possibility.
This is a good time to remind yourself of the 3 components of hope: goals, pathways thinking, and willpower, which can be one of your go-to strategies when feeling stressed and overwhelmed.
4. Hopelessness & Apathy
When asked to name the opposite of hope, many people say despair. But despair still carries emotional engagement; there’s still a longing for change.
Apathy is what appears when effort feels pointless. It’s the belief that no option will work — that no outcome matters — that trying is irrelevant. Apathy often comes after long periods of difficulty.
First, there’s a goal >> then barriers appear >> then frustration >> then anxiety.
As those barriers persist, a sense of urgency builds. People act fast, try harder, and scramble for solutions.
If that doesn’t create a result, the system begins to shut down. The cognitive load becomes too high. Eventually, the brain may stop searching for solutions altogether. This is apathy.
Apathy ends the hope process. It prevents new pathways from forming. It stops goal-setting before it starts.
So, if you can recognize feelings of apathy early, and gently intervene, then you can preserve future momentum.
6 Steps To Rebuild Hope
The positive note here is that hope can be reactivated quickly. Hope isn’t static, it’s a skill that can be taught.
So, how do you build hope?
As mentioned earlier, hope is built through three cognitive components: goals, pathways, and willpower. Rebuilding hope means activating all three in small, specific ways.
Let’s get more into the specifics…
Step 1: Identify a Goal
The goal should be personally relevant and clearly defined.
Step 2: List Multiple Pathways
Being able to see more than one way to reach a goal. This increases a sense of flexibility and choice. So, think of multiple things you can do to reach the goal you want to achieve.
Step 3: Identify Sources of Motivation
Ask yourself these questions to give you the willpower to keep going.
What motivates you to reach this goal?
What is your why?
What sustains effort over time?
What feels worth doing?
Step 4: Map out likely obstacles
Identifying barriers helps with problem-solving. It’s not pessimistic — it’s part of pathway thinking.
If one of your barriers is ‘I don’t have the money’ - you can think about different ways to solve this problem. This is the perfect time to do some brainstorming.
Start by asking yourself…
How can I obtain this money?
How can I make the money?
Can I save money?
Also, brain dump ways to follow through on the ideas that come up to you.
Tip: Ask other people in your life for advice on the obstacles you have. A friend can help you by offering ideas and solutions. This also helps with being accountable by letting other people know what you’re working on.
Step 5: Create Future-Oriented Imagery
This involves imagining a possible success. Not perfection, just one point of progress.
Take time to sit for 5 minutes and imagine what a small win might be when in comes to overcoming an obstacle
Visualize it by writing the details in a notebook or creating a vision board
This can ignite the energy you need to keep going.
Step 6: Re-goal
Goals can change. If something isn’t connecting, it can be adjusted, reframed, or scaled differently. This ability to shift course helps preserve momentum.
Visualizing this process can help externalize the mental work and make it easier to engage with over time. Use tools like:
Graphic organizers
Sticky notes
Digital whiteboards
Different journaling formats
7 Strategies To Find Hope: A Guide for ADHD & AudHD Adults
Research on hope in ADHD and AuDHD is still developing. But the early findings are promising.
They suggest that hope-based frameworks support improvements in:
Coping skills
Emotional regulation
Resilience under stress
Academic follow-through
Goal-directed behavior in personal life
For people with ADHD, hope often looks different than those in neurotypical goal frameworks.
The brain’s relationship to time, motivation, and self-regulation changes the way goals are formed — and how they’re pursued.
Hope-oriented solutions become more effective when they’re adapted for this.
Let’s get into some practices to support more hope.
1. Keep a Hope Journal
One approach is a daily hope journal — a running log of small indicators of possibility or moments of future wins.
Keeping a hop journal is similar to what Deb Dana calls ‘glimmers’, “ Glimmers are micro-moments of regulation that foster feelings of well-being … They are a cue in the day, either internal or external, that sparks a sense of wellbeing.”
In your hope journal, you can write down these glimmers of hope down reminding you that there is forward movement. It’s about reflecting on the small moments that bring you joy.
Check out Deb Dana’s Journal & Books To Learn More:
To Start Hope Journaling, Every Day, Write Down:
One small goal
One possible pathway
One thing that gives you energy
One success or moment of pride
This could look like:
A list of one future-oriented thought per day
A sketch or photo of something that connects to a goal
A sticky note with one reminder of progress
A note about a pathway that worked — even partially
Over time, this creates a personal archive of forward movement. Not motivational quotes or affirmations — just evidence.
2. Focus on Short-Term Goals
Long-term goals often fail to connect in ADHD brains. When mental energy is low or executive function is overloaded, the brain can’t visualize what “next month” looks like. Time loses structure.
Hope is easier to activate in short-term increments — hourly or daily goals — that are highly specific.
These can be supported by breaking goals into categories, like:
Family
School
Work
Health
Creative projects
More specific goals allow for more wins, which helps sustain hope.
When someone with ADHD sees one small goal completed, even if it's as simple as “send email” or “shower and change clothes,” that success feeds the system.
Tip: Start a ‘wins’ journal for this and record every small win. Hope doesn’t need grand gestures. It needs motion.
3. Use Visual Tools
Many people with ADHD process information better when it’s visual, externalized, and flexible.
Visual tools that can support hope include:
Graphic organizers
Visual goal maps
Sticky notes placed in visible areas
Digital planning boards
Dry-erase calendars with color-coded categories
These tools create a visible representation of goals and progress. They reduce mental tracking and help restore a sense of movement, especially when internal executive function is overdrawn.
4. Focus on Preserving Your Willpower
Hope depends on willpower, and willpower depends on available mental energy.
For ADHD and AuDHD brains, that energy burns faster, and it depletes without notice.
Preservation strategies help sustain willpower throughout the day. These include:
Breathing regulation exercises
Stretching and physical regulation
Intentional breaks between tasks
Hydration and regular meals
Sensory supports (weighted blankets, fidgets, sound-dampening headphones)
Mindfulness practices can also support hope by slowing down reactivity and making room for intention.
Note: This doesn’t require a formal meditation routine. Something as simple as three minutes of deep breathing between transitions can support the willpower component of hope.
5. Remember That Hope is a Neurobiological Process
Brain imaging research shows that hope activates areas of the brain associated with anxiety and uncertainty.
When hope is present, those areas show more resolution and less anxiety, suggesting that hope may work as a stabilizing force in emotionally reactive states.
That’s part of why hope matters for ADHD.
6. Positive Language Matters
A lot of people are already using the language of hope — sometimes without realizing it. Terms like “growth mindset,” “goal-setting,” and “small wins” are all part of the same system.
The goal isn’t to add new strategies, but to recognize where hope-based processes are already in use — and support them with more structure and energy.
One of the challenges for people with ADHD is that small tasks snowball. The list of “little things” grows until it becomes a wall. And when progress feels impossible, despair sets in. Then apathy.
Hope helps rebuild forward motion — not by changing the list, but by reactivating pathways of thinking.
7. The Way You Present Hope Matters
For many people with ADHD, the way hope is presented matters.
A white page or long text block can feel overwhelming, but a single sticky note with one visual cue can reset the day.
This can be part of a hope journal. One page. One note. One task. One moment of orientation toward the future.
There’s also a limit to what hope can do… A list of 53 massive life goals can’t all be supported at once, especially if none of them are broken down into steps.
ADHD brains often need one or two high-priority goals, clearly defined, and supported by multiple pathways and manageable steps.
Final Thoughts & Recap
According to Dr. Edward Hallowell’s framework, many people with ADHD reach treatment after losing track of what is good about themselves.
For some, the idea that things could work out feels out of reach — not because they’re negative or pessimistic, but because the systems they’ve been navigating have worn them down.
People with ADHD often live in survival mode. They’re using everything they have — cognitively and emotionally — just to stay afloat.
The amount of creativity, resiliency, and improvisation that goes into keeping life semi-functional often goes unrecognized. But it burns energy. And it can leave people locked in a holding pattern that feels endless.
At the same time, the capacity for imagination in ADHD minds is unusually strong. Many people with ADHD are natural visionaries.
ADHDers…
Think big thoughts and dream in possibilities
Take small moments and turn them into grand ideas
Turn chance encounters into full experiences
Thrive on ideas that haven’t happened yet
This is part of why hope is both powerful and fragile in ADHD.
There’s a strong attachment to vision, but when the vision collapses — whether from executive failure, rejection, or burnout — it can hit harder. And over time, repeated collapse creates a reluctance to hope again.
That cycle — big dream, high hope, sudden collapse — erodes belief in possibility.
By the time a diagnosis is made, many people have already cycled through this pattern for years.
They’re used to trying
They’re used to failing
They’re used to hearing advice that doesn’t map to how their brain works
For clinicians, coaches, and educators who work with ADHD, one of the first steps is restoring the idea that trying again might be worth it.
As a reminder, Dr. Hallowell frames it this way: “The most important step at the beginning of treatment is to instill hope once again.”
This doesn’t mean offering reassurance, it’s about creating conditions for forward movement…
Real goals
Real support
Clear pathways
Belief that new outcomes are possible
In the field of ADHD coaching, both Hallowell and Dr. Russell Barkley emphasize that hope fuels engagement. Without it, even the best tools don’t get used.
Clients may be fully aware of what could help them — time-blocking, medication, task structuring, accommodations — but none of it lands when the system has no hope that effort leads to anything different.
Hope is what activates the willingness to try again.
This is where coaching and therapy often begin: by identifying a goal, uncovering a few actionable pathways, and helping someone feel that their effort might lead to a real shift, even in a small area.
Without that, the cognitive system stays on hold. People become observers of their own stuckness.
To Recap:
Hope is a process (not a mood), and it runs on 3 things:
Goals: specific, relevant, named
Pathways: strategic, flexible, visible
Willpower: preserved, supported, protected
For ADHD adults, building and maintaining hope requires cognitive energy, which means that everything from sleep to food to environment matters.
Hope responds to structure. And when that structure includes short-term wins, external visual tools, and choice about where to focus, it becomes more sustainable.
Hope supports regulation, persistence, and belief that one more try might work and lead to something different, not because someone thinks positively, but because the system is being supported in a new way.
FAQs:
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Here’s one way to understand how hope operates within action:
Imagine someone with a chronic illness who is prescribed a medication they must take daily in order to survive.
Hope is what allows them to imagine that the medication might work — that life might continue.
That hope is grounded in possibility — is what allows them to take the meds.
Hope doesn’t cure them. But without hope, they wouldn’t take the action that supports survival. The action is still medical. The hope is what allows the system to stay engaged long enough to benefit from it.
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Hope-based work doesn’t always need new language or complex interventions. Much of it overlaps with tools people are already using — they just aren’t naming it that way.
Goal planning
Microtasking
Visual scheduling
Routines that reduce decision fatigue
Techniques for protecting mental energy
All of these connect directly to the components of hope: goal setting, pathways thinking, and willpower regulation.
When people see that what they’re already doing has a structure — and that structure is supported by science — it can stabilize their process. Hope becomes less abstract and more like a skill they’re already practicing in parts.
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