He that lives upon hope will die fasting.

Hope makes a poor diet on its own. Waiting for the situation to improve, for someone to notice you, for the right conditions to arrive, can absorb years while producing nothing, because expectation and action are separate activities and only one of them feeds you. The trap is that hoping feels like doing something.

Take whatever you are currently hoping for and convert it into a task with a date on it. If it will not convert, you may be waiting rather than working, which is worth admitting. Keep the hope, and make sure something is happening underneath it this week.