How To Choose Hope When Life Breaks You (The Science of Resilience & Belonging) | Dr. Robyne Hanley-Dafoe
Tue Feb 03 2026
What do you do when hope feels completely out of reach?
In this episode of The Mark Divine Show, Mark sits down with Dr. Robyne Hanley-Dafoe, award-winning resilience researcher, educator, and known globally as The Hope Scientist, to unpack what hope really is—and why it’s not just wishful thinking.
Dr. Robyne shares her remarkable story of dropping out of high school, navigating addiction, surviving a near-fatal car accident, and rebuilding her life from the ground up. Together, they explore why so many high performers feel burned out, disconnected, and stuck—even when they “have it all”—and how hope can be trained as a science-backed strategy for mental fitness, leadership, and long-term wellbeing.
You’ll learn:
- Why traditional motivation fails when identity doesn’t change
- The difference between optimism and real hope
- How stress, burnout, and hyper-arousal shut down clarity
- Why belonging is the missing link in performance and fulfillment
- How to build daily systems that rewire the brain for resilience
- What to do when life forces a complete reset
This conversation is for leaders, parents, entrepreneurs, and anyone navigating uncertainty who wants to reclaim agency, purpose, and calm—without bypassing reality.
Hope isn’t passive. It’s a practice.
Join the Community & Go Deeper
Subscribe to the Newsletter
Get weekly insights on leadership, resilience, mental fitness, and purpose-driven living.
👉 Sign up here: www.markdivine.com/newsletter
Join the Unbeatable Tribe Community
Connect with leaders and high performers committed to training their minds, leading with courage, and building lives of meaning.
👉 Join the community here: https://join.unbeatablemind.com/join-community
#Hope #MentalFitness #Resilience #LeadershipDevelopment #BurnoutRecovery #PersonalGrowth #Belonging #StressManagement #Neuroscience #TheMarkDivineShow #MarkDivine #DrRobyneHanleyDafoe #IHopeSo
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
More
What do you do when hope feels completely out of reach? In this episode of The Mark Divine Show, Mark sits down with Dr. Robyne Hanley-Dafoe, award-winning resilience researcher, educator, and known globally as The Hope Scientist, to unpack what hope really is—and why it’s not just wishful thinking. Dr. Robyne shares her remarkable story of dropping out of high school, navigating addiction, surviving a near-fatal car accident, and rebuilding her life from the ground up. Together, they explore why so many high performers feel burned out, disconnected, and stuck—even when they “have it all”—and how hope can be trained as a science-backed strategy for mental fitness, leadership, and long-term wellbeing. You’ll learn: - Why traditional motivation fails when identity doesn’t change - The difference between optimism and real hope - How stress, burnout, and hyper-arousal shut down clarity - Why belonging is the missing link in performance and fulfillment - How to build daily systems that rewire the brain for resilience - What to do when life forces a complete reset This conversation is for leaders, parents, entrepreneurs, and anyone navigating uncertainty who wants to reclaim agency, purpose, and calm—without bypassing reality. Hope isn’t passive. It’s a practice. Join the Community & Go Deeper Subscribe to the Newsletter Get weekly insights on leadership, resilience, mental fitness, and purpose-driven living. 👉 Sign up here: www.markdivine.com/newsletter Join the Unbeatable Tribe Community Connect with leaders and high performers committed to training their minds, leading with courage, and building lives of meaning. 👉 Join the community here: https://join.unbeatablemind.com/join-community #Hope #MentalFitness #Resilience #LeadershipDevelopment #BurnoutRecovery #PersonalGrowth #Belonging #StressManagement #Neuroscience #TheMarkDivineShow #MarkDivine #DrRobyneHanleyDafoe #IHopeSo See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.